Love Always
by LadyDae
Summary: All is fair in love and war, especially where world domination is concerned. #30 "And there it was, an opening Sakura was sure Tsubame would kill her for not taking, the perfect opportunity to plant the suggestion or the idea of something a little more intimate, a little less innocent."
1. The Immortal Queen Tsubame

**Disclaimer: **It seems to be fairly obvious to me, but just so no one comes across and pesters me I announce that I do not own Card Captor Sakura including characters, plots, stories, events, lines etc. that you may or may not recognize from the manga (which is what this story is mostly based from) of the anime (little minor stuff I borrowed). This will be the only disclaimer for the entire story. Thank you

**Warning: **In case someone missed it this story is M-rated and will contain adult themes, sexual situations, some violence, and other content that may or may not offend the reader. These scenes may sometimes be graphic. I will not section off mature content and I will not tell you ahead of time in the said chapters where content takes place. Consider yourself sufficiently warned.

And while this isn't so much of a warning, I do want anyone who happens upon this story to note that is story is a continuation universe with a Yue/Sakura pairing just in case someone thought something different when they saw the main characters.

Sigh. I'm still not done writing this darn thing, but I promised it would be up so without further ado, I bring you:

_**Love Always**_

Read, enjoy, and review!

* * *

**Chapter One**

**The Immortal Queen Tsubame**

"Interesting…"

Her two companions looked up at that. That was a word they hadn't heard from their mistress in a while, not only the word, but the tone. It sounded like curiosity, wonder maybe. It was a sure sign that she had found something to do, a new endeavor for them to embark on. And they needed one. There was only so much to do once she made herself absolute monarch of not only the magical word, but the non-magical world too.

"What is it?" one of her companions asked, though neither he nor her other companion moved out the shadows of the room as she inspected the celestial like body in the most secret room of her palace. It took up half the room, swallowing up the walls, appearing to look like the starry night sky, but moving, rotating as the woman explored it.

She had only learned how to do it recently, after three centuries of perfecting her magic, she could manipulate time and space according to her will, not that she needed to or even wanted to. She was already queen, of this world anyway. But it wasn't enough. It might never be enough, but she could spend the rest of her days trying to make it so.

To answer his question, she pointed to a particular star, a planet more than likely and said, "There's a completely unconquered world here," she said. "I want to go there."

"Bored?" her other companion asked.

She nodded, continuing to inspect the world. "It will be in vain if there's nothing there worth challenging, worth bringing order to."

"It'll be better than sitting around here all day and placating diplomats."

"A man of action until the end love," she said. The curl of her red lips were the only thing that gave away her amusement. It was hard to read any other facial cues with the white face paint she wore.

She smiled as something else caught her attention. "Now what's this?"

"It would be easier to understand if you just told us what you were looking at Tsubame."

Tsubame laughed in delight, like a child would when their birthday came or when they knew they were getting a new toy.

"This is going to be more interesting than I thought. A right challenge. I haven't had one of those in a while…" Tsubame said.

"Where is this world we're going to?"

Tsubame laughed again, as though the question were silly.

"Earth. Japan specifically."

"Earth?"

"Japan?"

Both her companions exchanged a look before shrugging and following Tsubame to where she was standing in front of her celestial door, the door that allowed her to travel through time and space. It crackled with energy and then, they were gone.

* * *

"Remember Sakura. Tomorrow, three o'clock."

Sakura sighed. "You'd think after telling me this all week already, I'd know this."

"I just want everything to be perfect. And that can't be so without my top model present."

Sakura laughed at her best friend's antics.

"What?" Tomoyo said. "I can't name my designs _Sakura's Closet_, if Sakura isn't part of the debut."

"Don't worry Tomoyo," Sakura said as she walked backwards up the path to the front door of her house. "I understand. Tomorrow. Three o'clock."

"Alright. See you later," Tomoyo said getting in her limo and pulling off.

Sakura laughed as she went inside the house. She didn't bother announcing she was home. Everyone who was in the house could sense that. Kero would come to greet her at the door if he wasn't playing video games and Yue…

Sakura sighed at the thought. Whatever was she going to do with that man? A voice in the back of her head suggested a lot, none of them as innocent as many of her friends believed her to be. She mentally pushed the thoughts aside, but it was a hard feat. She sighed. Those were the things that happened when she was seventeen and her admittedly gorgeous moon guardian stayed in the house.

She went to the kitchen, pushing the thoughts aside for good as she prepared a simple dinner for herself and Kero. Not only was she exhausted, but neither did she have the time. Homework needed to be done, and she had wasted a lot of time over Tomoyo's house. And there was no way she'd be getting any homework done the next day.

It had taken a lot of convincing on her friend's part, but Sakura finally relented and agreed to be her model, just this once for the debut of her new fashion line, facilitated by her mother's efforts.

"_It's a waste of talent for you to spend your time sewing all these outfits and coming up with all these designs for Sakura only," said Sonomi one day when Tomoyo was having a photo shoot with Sakura._

And so began Sonomi's efforts to officially debut Tomoyo's designs to the world to sell. Sakura sighed. There was a lot of work involved. She'd never know how her mother did it, modeled that was. There was a certain way she had to walk, a certain way to stand, a certain way to look, a certain expression to wear, and even a way to eat (Sakura wouldn't get on that program. She would eat what she wanted!). One thing was for sure, it wasn't easy, and she wouldn't willingly choose it as a profession.

Sakura began to roll her shoulders, a sure sign that someone was watching her. But there was no guessing as to who it was when she was in the house. Only one person could watch her like this. She continued to work though, ignoring the fact that her moon guardian was watching her. Sakura didn't know why he did it, why he watched her so intently sometimes, but she had gotten used to it… Well scratch that. She knew part of the reason he watched her as he did, though if she asked him he would certainly deny that he did so.

Things had changed between the two of them. No longer was she the little girl that he had to protect and shield anymore, though he still did that. No. It wasn't so much that the protecting and shielding her part had changed. Yue would always do that. It was his duty of course (she and Yue had conflicting definitions of what that duty consisted of), but it was the "little girl" part that had changed.

It only seemed natural that Yue should come to stay with her after he and Yukito had been given too separate bodies, thanks to Eriol's efforts to fix that particular blunder in Clow's predictions, that Yue and Yukito would only be two parts of a whole, an extension of each other. He would never tell her why it was a blunder, but the point was that Yue was a member of the household.

It had been easy at first to adjust. He was just her moon guardian. But then came puberty. Though Sakura had noticed that her body was beginning to change, she hadn't noticed that he noticed it too, at least not until she came into her room one day after school where Yue and Kero happened to be and started to change. It wasn't uncommon for her to change in front of the two and perhaps that had been part of the innocence from before puberty, an innocence she sometimes still retained. In any case she noticed Yue looking at her strangely and when she asked why, he rushed out the room, and Sakura swore she saw him blush.

She didn't figure out why any time soon, only that Yue no longer stayed in the room when she got dressed. Then one day it occurred to her when she had insisted on tending to a wound that Yue had gained on his chest in some magical fight or another. She began cleaning it, unable to help but notice how different his body was from hers. The broader shoulders, the muscular arms, defined chest, and with startling clarity, it occurred to her why Yue had left the room that day. It was for the same reason she fought down a blush when she tended to his wound.

Then things began to make sense, not only about some of the things Yue did, but also the things she sometimes felt when she was around him, when he held her in his arms to protect her, or keep her close as they hid from the latest threat to her being. It felt safe, more comforting. She hadn't understood it before, been able to put it into perspective, but that night she understood something that had never occurred to her before. Yue was a man, a beautiful one at that and she was a young girl, coming into her womanhood. That had been when she was fourteen.

It was hard to ignore that fact, even though she had managed to for that last three years. But it was a hard feat, especially when he watched her like this.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, turning around, hoping to catch him watching her. She didn't. She never did in fact, even though she knew he had been. His gaze was to the side now and when she turned around, he cast her a sideways glance.

"You're home late."

"I know," she said blushing a little, for reasons she wasn't comfortable thinking about. "I was at Tomoyo's house. I'm doing that modeling thing with her… remember?" she asked.

He nodded.

"Would you… Would you like to come?"

"No thank you," Yue said to her.

She couldn't say she hadn't been expecting it. It was a hard feat to get Yue to come out the house during the day just for the sake of it. Still, it was disappointing.

She sighed when he left the room. She sensed it in the air, that sense of something else between them. It wasn't always there, but when it was, it was hard for the two of them to be in the same room together alone. A certain magical charge in the air, though neither would ever admit it… Well, Sakura would have liked to, but she wasn't certain how her moon guardian would react, how it would affect the relationship she had with him.

Sakura looked at the clock. She better get started on her homework and go to bed. She had a long day tomorrow.

* * *

"_Sakura… Sakura!"_

Sakura jumped out her sleep at the sound of her name, looking around, a little discombobulated. She looked at her clock, to where the time said one o'clock, realizing that she must have fallen asleep doing her school work. She sighed. Sakura really needed to get this done…

A blanket fell off her shoulders and she looked down at it in surprise.

"You fell asleep. I didn't think it would be wise to move you," Yue said to her.

Sakura smiled gently, picking up the blanket. "Oh."

With the charged atmosphere that had been present before now gone, the two could finally relax around each other. So Sakura did, turning on the lamp at her desk and beginning her homework again. Until Yue put a hand over hers and said, "You're exhausted. Stop this."

Sakura sighed. "Believe me, I'd like to. But I'll be busy for most of tomorrow. I have to finish this."

"Need help?"

Sakura nodded. She didn't know when Yue had started helping her do homework. It was one of those times she had been too tired to do it after taking care of yet another threat to her magical being. She hadn't seen him do it, but the next morning it was done in his neat scrawl, too neat really.

"Remember, I don't write as neat as you do," Sakura reminded.

He stopped halfway through writing a character before flipping the pencil in his hand over to erase it and then rewrite whatever he had started with less precision and caution than he normally would have done.

They were silent as they continued to work on her homework, Yue having what appeared to be an easier time than she was having. Then Sakura stopped, something occurring to her.

"Yue."

He didn't stop writing, only nodded his head a little to let her know he was listening.

"Did you call me earlier, to wake me up?" she added.

Yue stopped writing at that, though he didn't look at her.

"No," he replied.

Sakura frowned. "Odd. I could have sworn I heard someone say my name to wake me up."

"It explains why you jumped," Yue said. "But no one was in this room except Cerberus and I, and he's been sleep."

Sakura shrugged and went back to her work. It must have been your imagination.

"You aren't concerned about it?" Yue asked her.

"Why? It must have been my imagination."

Yue gave her a dry look, one Sakura had taken as a signal that something sarcastic or bluntly honest or both was about to come out his mouth. She wasn't disappointed.

"This is you we're talking about."

He could have said it nicer, Sakura thought to herself. But he was right. It usually wasn't just her imagination when she started hearing voices. Whether it was a good or bad thing though…

"I'll worry about it if I hear it again or something happens," Sakura said.

No sooner than the words had left her lips, Sakura and Yue looked out the window in time to see something-they weren't sure what-explode. Whatever it was, though, practically reek of magic, powerful magic.

"Please don't say I told you so," Sakura said as she went to the window, setting her homework aside.

Yue huffed at the idea, no doubt thinking it would be childish of him to do so in a situation as serious as this.

"Kero! Kero! Wake up!" Sakura yelled taking out her staff. "We have to go!"

"Huh," the plush toy creature with wing said sitting up. "What's going on?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. Kero could sleep through anything.

"We have to go," she said to him, already on the ledge of her window, ready to take off and investigate the magical disturbance.

* * *

"Oh dear…" Tsubame said as she looked at her companion. "That wasn't supposed to happen.

"That tone is never anything good," her companion said as he stood. "You couldn't have given us a less rocky landing."

"That's the least of our concerns," Tsubame said turning to look for her second companion. "You're rather… I think we have a problem."

"What's that supposed to mean?" the tall male said, the hood of his cloak obscuring his features.

"Where's Leo?"

The man looked around and seeing that Leo wasn't there asked, "What happened to him?"

"I don't know," Tsubame said. "Something must have gone wrong. He must have gotten lost on the way. I bet he's really annoyed with me right now," she added with a laugh.

"This is nothing to laugh at Tsubame!" he snapped.

Tsubame turned to him, and then made her way over to him, putting a hand on his face under his cowl.

"You worry too much love," she said. "I'll figure it out."

He sighed and said, "Stop it you. This is no time for-"

Both he and Tsubame frowned.

"Looks like someone's coming to investigate," Tsubame said and then looked around. It appeared they were in a park, what used to be a park anyway. Regardless, she smiled a little under her white mask. It brought back memories of her own childhood, the few good times she remembered of them anyway.

"Well our landing wasn't exactly discreet," the man said to her.

"I suppose not," Tsubame admitted. "You get out of here. Go somewhere, and I'll find you later."

"Shouldn't you come, at least until you know what's going on?"

"Apparently whoever it is came expecting to find something. I shouldn't disappoint them," Tsubame said and pressed her lips against the man's lightly before pulling away. "I'll be fine."

He huffed. "That's what you always say," he said, but otherwise didn't argue as he walked into the forest to hide temporarily.

No sooner than they were out her sight did she sense them behind her, staring at her warily. She turned around and not one to be shy, boldly looked the girl, who she determined to be the master, in the eye.

Sakura felt the power radiating off the woman, but there was something odd about it. Like it had suddenly been restrained or locked. It was only Yue's hand on her shoulder keeping her from going to the woman, whose face was painted like a _geisha_, brown hair pulled up into an elegant bun, a crystal comb with pink cherry blossoms attached to it holding the bun together at the top, red off shoulder silk kimono with gold sash looking like it belonged to royalty. In fact, she looked like royalty. She was beautiful.

She betrayed no emotion, though Sakura got the sense that she seemed rather curious about them.

Finally Sakura took in the destroyed park, pushing the woman's beauty out her mind as she asked, "You did this?"

The woman looked around; the twitch of her lips betraying what might have been surprise.

"I suppose I did," she finally said in a regal, but somewhat whimsical tone. "I hadn't realized it. I promise it was an accident. I didn't know my landing would cause such a commotion."

Sakura looked at Yue and then Cerberus, neither sure how to take the woman.

"Landing?" Sakura asked.

"Oh yes!" the woman said. "I'm not from here, though I am from a world similar to it, but it's boring right now. I've done everything I can do there and being ruler gets boring when there's no rebellion to squash, no empires to conquer."

Sakura's eyes widened, Cerberus blinked, and even Yue raised an eyebrow. They had never, in all their encounters with power hungry sorcerers and mad magicians, heard someone talk about ruling or gaining power with as much casualty, and whimsicalness as this woman was, as though it had been easy.

"Who are you?" Yue finally asked.

"Oh! My apologies. I usually have better manners than that. I'm the Immortal Queen Tsubame. And I came here to take complete control of your world."

* * *

**AN:** I love the beginning of a story. Why? Because this only took me ten minutes to write when I began this project back in… February…? Anyway I did first encounter one issue and that was the issue of how old Sakura would be in this fic. She was sixteen first, then as the story progressed I thought, maybe she should be older, much older because I'd have a fit if my sixteen year old sister encountered some of the things I wrote in this. So then I said, maybe twenty-one. But that was too old for the story and some issues that came up would probably be a moot point. So in the end, I went with seventeen. Seventeen was perfect and my sister won't be seventeen for a while so I won't feel bad about it.

Anyway, update days are Saturday (or Sunday considering how hectic my Saturdays can become) and Tuesday. And if you enjoyed or even if you didn't (with legitimate reason, not the pairing), ff. net has made it so easy to simply put your arrow right in that big box and type a quick review from your computer where you can also easily favorite and follow this story. So much more convenient and less steps.

Hope you enjoyed! Review Please!


	2. Naoki

**Chapter Two  
Naoki**

Dumbfounded might have been the only word that Sakura could think to describe how she was feeling. Utterly dumbfounded in fact. It was one thing to come here expecting some magical disturbance, someone wanting to steal her power, but another to encounter this woman, Queen Tsubame, who boldly and nonchalantly declared that she came to take over their world for no other reason, it appeared, beside the fact that she was bored on her own world, wherever that was.

Sakura responded the only way she could. "What?"

"I'm here to take control of your world," Tsubame said again. "It appears no one has claimed it yet, not that it would matter anyhow. It would just make it more fun, more challenging."

Sakura didn't know whether to term Tsubame as arrogant or extremely overconfident. Either way, Tsubame didn't seem to think that taking over the world would be that hard.

Tsubame continued to speak.

"You three are free to help me if you want. I'm going to need supporters, subjects. You know, begin a royal hierarchy."

"Wait a minute! You can't just come here and decide you want to take over. Where are you from anyway?" Cerberus snapped.

"Somewhere in the universe," Tsubame said vaguely. "And who says I can't take over. What authority do you have on this world? Do you come from one of the head magical families? Can you take me to the leader?"

"I…" Sakura was almost too stumped by the woman's personality to answer. "No! I don't come from one. But I know I speak for a lot of people when I say you can't take over. I won't allow it."

Tsubame laughed. "You and what army little girl?"

"We could ask you the same," Yue said dryly.

Tsubame looked at him, something flashing in her eyes. Then she turned back to Sakura.

"You're one lone sorceress. That means you're no threat to me."

With that, Tsubame turned around and started to walk away.

Sakura opened and closed her mouth in shock. Tsubame had to be from another world. Not that Sakura thought she was that powerful, but most sorcerers who came to her with some sinister dark scheme knew to proceed with caution if they wanted to accomplish it with her around. And here this woman was walking away from her like she was of no consequence to her. That was new.

"Well don't let her get away!" Cerberus shouted.

"Oh yeah!" Sakura said and threw a card into the air, using her staff to activate it. "WINDY! Restrain Tsubame so that she can't get away!"

Tsubame stopped, looking back at the spirit that came out the card in mild curiosity. She didn't do anything to try to stop it, to try to get away even, just looked at it as it came forth to restrain her… and then passed right through her.

Sakura gasped as WINDY returned to her, unable to restrain the woman.

"What happened?"

Tsubame laughed. "You have no hope of defeating me little girl. You still have to use your staff and a deck of cards to use your magic. You couldn't even come to face me without your guardians at your side. A real sorceress doesn't need her guardians when she first comes to battle. She calls on them as a last resort. How long have you been using your magic? Six, maybe seven years?"

"How…?" Sakura asked.

"You're still just a baby," Tsubame said. "Let mother show you how it's done."

Tsubame held her hand in front of her, obviously trying to call some type of magic to her. It wasn't even a second before she frowned.

"That's odd. It appears I'm unable to properly harness my magic in this world. Perhaps he was right? I'll have to wait until I figure out what's going on."

Tsubame shrugged and as if it were a cue, the wind picked up with such a suddenness that it would have blown Sakura off her feet if Yue hadn't caught her and held her to him.

As sudden as it had come, the wind went away. Tsubame was gone, but she had also returned the park to its original state. She, Yue, and Cerberus said anything for a moment, neither knowing what to say at this point.

"If that's not being able to properly harness magic, I don't want to see what properly harnessing her magic is," Cerberus finally said.

But was Yue who said what they were all thinking, "I think we might be getting in over our head here. Perhaps you may need to call Eriol."

* * *

When Yue said she needed to call Eriol, it meant Sakura really needed to. Anytime she suggested it when there was a magical threat, he always shot it down on the grounds that she could handle it. Whenever he said that, it was his way of saying he had the utmost confidence that she could handle something on her own and that's always how it happened. For him to tell her to call the young English boy meant that Yue thought that this might be more than Sakura could handle, even with the help of her guardians.

She called him late the night before, but he didn't answer. Sakura wished he had, because it was likely she wouldn't be able to get to him until Monday.

"Sakura! Smile for goodness sake!"

Sakura blinked out her stupor, remembering the cameras surrounding her. She definitely wouldn't be able to talk to Eriol until Monday. Despite her late night, Sakura got to the show early and as soon as she walked through the door it was straight to makeup, hair dressing, and tailoring. The show was due to start soon, but before that, she had to take still shots in front of a white background. Despite her troubles and the fact that she really didn't want to do this, she put up a cheerful façade and smiled shyly for the cameras. The shyness wasn't faked. She really was uncomfortable with all the attention.

"That's a great look Sakura! Keep it up," Tomoyo said.

It wasn't hard, and Sakura was grateful when her time was up and the other models, the real professional models, had to do their shots.

"I can't take this," she said to Tomoyo who was doing a million different things at once and probably half paying attention.

"Oh no!" Tomoyo said. "You did great Sakura. I promise we'll talk later about it though."

Sakura nodded, understanding that her friend was busy. So she went to practice her walk. She had been struggling with it for a while now, and despite the best efforts of all the other models that helped her, she still couldn't quite get it. The shoes didn't help either. It took her weeks to learn how to walk normally in them.

"Hoe!" she cried to herself, cheeks turning red at the thought of messing up in front of all the people that would be watching. "I hate this!"

Someone chuckled at her antics, and Sakura jumped, unaware that anyone had been watching.

"You're too cute to be shy," a smooth masculine voice said coming into her view.

Sakura looked up at him. A man who was about a foot taller than her (maybe more since her heels gave her a little height), with long black hair worn loosely down his back, and a short fringe stood in front of her, a smile on his face. The top buttons of his white button shirt was open giving her peak of his no doubt muscular chest. The shirt remained untucked from his black slacks.

Sakura blushed. He was certainly handsome, matching the warm aura she sensed from him.

"I… Sorry."

"What are you sorry for?" he asked her and then continued, "Don't be shy. Keep practicing."

Sakura hesitated, but then decided it wouldn't hurt to have a small audience. Aware of his eyes on her, she started her walk again and almost tripped halfway. He chuckled again and went over to steady her.

"Be careful. We wouldn't want you hurt right before the show," he said.

Sakura nodded, trying to stop the heat that was rushing to her face.

"Now try again," he said and placed a hand on her back. "Stand up straight."

Sakura tensed at his touch on her back. He laughed.

"Relax," he said running his hand up and down her back. "Don't try so hard. Let it be your natural stride, just more refined. Go on."

Sakura began slowly, trying not to be distracted by the hand on her back.

"That's it. Now point your feet a little more and go faster. It'll help make it sound like you're stomping, even though you're not," he said removing his hand.

Sakura kept going and then stopped. "Oh! That does feel better, less awkward."

"See?" he asked. "I knew you could do it. Just stop thinking about it so much."

He looked at her, but Sakura couldn't quite meet his eyes.

"What's your name?"

"Sakura."

"Cherry blossom," he said and then touched her face where the pink tinge of her blush was present. "Fitting. I'm Naoki."

Sakura was sure she was going to be red permanently.

"Now Naoki. Isn't she a bit young for you?"

One of the models was behind them, chocolate hair cascading down her back. Like Sakura, she wasn't as tall as the other models, even with the high heels she was wearing, but she certainly looked more confident.

"Oh," Sakura said. "Are you his girlfriend?"

She laughed. "Naoki's too loyal to betray his love. That's what his name means you know? Nao, honest, ki, tree. He's an honest man and unyielding like a firmly rooted tree. He'd be a good catch."

Naoki gave the woman a dry look and then looked back at an embarrassed Sakura.

"Just stop it Misa. You're making her blush again, and she was just starting to warm up to me," Naoki said.

"It might help if you took your hand off her face," Misa said playfully chiding Naoki.

Naoki looked at where his hand still was and then removed it.

"Sorry."

"No," Sakura said quickly, a little too quickly. "It's okay."

Misa raised her eyebrows, smiling a little. "Well would you look at that? I think she likes you."

"Misa!"

"No. That's not it!"

Misa laughed. "I'm just joking, but seriously. Don't let that young face fool you. He's too old for you. What are you? Seventeen? Naoki's ancient! He's twenty-nine!"

"It's not that!" Sakura said quickly and then realizing she sounded desperate added more slowly, "I mean my mom was younger than my dad. So it wouldn't really matter to me."

"Then the two of you should go out," Misa suggested.

Naoki glared at Misa. "Stop it."

Misa laughed again but said, "Fine. I was just playing. Come on Sakura. We have to get ready. The show's about to start."

Misa didn't wait for Sakura though, only continued on her way.

"Sorry about her," Naoki said sighing. "She's like that. A real tease. We're childhood friends and also the reason I know so much about all this, modeling I mean."

"Oh," Sakura said and then added, "I didn't mind. It was okay. She wasn't that bad."

"But she was right."

"About what?"

"We should go out sometime."

Sakura looked at Naoki in shock. Was he serious? Was this man who she had known all of fifteen minutes asking her out? She couldn't believe it.

"You want to go out with me?" she asked. "Seriously?"

He laughed and gently touched her nose. "You're so cute," he said and then added, "Seriously. That is if you don't mind going out with an old man like me."

"Of course not! It's not that. Just…"

Damn it! Sakura thought to herself. This was so unexpected she didn't know how to deal with it. When was the last time anyone had asked her out?

"I understand. Tell you what," Naoki said taking her phone from a hidden pocket in the outfit she was wearing. He proceeded to program his number into her phone. "Think about it and when you decide, call me."

He placed the phone back in her pocket and began to walk away. Sakura blinked. Had that really just happened?

"Wait!" she said when she blinked out of her stupor, before he could get too far. "Don't you want my number?"

Naoki's own phone vibrated in his hand and he held it up for her to see, saying, "Got it."

Sakura stared after him, even when she could no longer see him, in disbelief that this had just happened. She looked in her phone to look at the new entry under Naoki's name.

"Wow…" was all she could say. Wow indeed.

* * *

Tomoyo squealed over the phone when Sakura told her.

"_And you didn't say yes!" Tomoyo yelled._

"He told me to think about it. I have his number," Sakura replied later that night.

"_Still! I would have jumped on that so fast he wouldn't have had the chance to finish asking!" Tomoyo said._

"I know you would have," Sakura said dryly. "And I wanted to, but…"

"_What's stopping you? You haven't had a steady boyfriend in years."_

"Yue and Kero all my boyfriends and usually, nine times out of ten, they're right," Sakura said dryly. "And they'll both probably throw a fit if I go out with someone I don't even know from school. He's practically a stranger…"

"_When has that ever stopped you?" Tomoyo asked dryly._

So maybe Sakura wasn't telling the complete truth, but it was close enough.

Sakura heard her best friend sigh over the receiver and then say, _"Well invite him to the house. Yue and Kero will be there. Just don't tell him they're there. That way you can gauge him and you'll be safe."_

Sakura hadn't thought of that one. But not only could she gauge Naoki's honesty and intentions, but see Yue's reaction to her bringing someone who may potentially become a boyfriend into the house because the truth was that though Kero rolled his eyes anytime she brought a new guy over, it wasn't because she didn't approve. It was because he thought she was, and she quoted, "a clueless idiot for going out with random guys because she was able to sort out her feelings for someone else." Yue on the other hand, while not the jealous type, had no reservations about telling her what he really thought of her dates or even saying it to their faces. He had definitely scared more than a few potential boyfriends away in the last three or four years.

"That's a good idea," Sakura finally said.

"_Of course it is Sakura! Now why are you still on the phone with me! Call Naoki!"_

With that, Tomoyo hung up on Sakura, leaving Sakura with no excuse not to call Naoki now. She sighed, playing with her phone some as she tried to come to a decision.

"You know this would be much less drama and so much easier if you stopped trying to be considerate of Yue's feelings and just came out and told him you liked him. It's simple as that and everyone will be happier for it. And I can stop being forced to mediate your arguments."

Sakura jumped. She hadn't even known Kero was awake.

"Kero! You scared me."

"Sure," Kero said dryly and then said, "You're not really going to call that guy you met today, are you?"

"I think I might…" Sakura muttered as she summoned the _Sakura book_ from her desk and to her hands. She opened it and placed her hand over the deck, taking comfort in their warmth.

"What do you all think?"

As usual, if the cards thought it was something that would make her happy, they wanted her to go for it, so Sakura wasn't shocked to sense their warm reception of the idea.

"Well they seem to like the idea."

Kero shook his head and while normally he rather not interfere with matters of Sakura's personal life, he couldn't help adding to himself, "What was fate thinking making the two most stubborn people on the planet attracted to each other? At this rate, it would take the end of the world to get those two matched up, healthily might I add."

"What was that Kero?" Sakura asked as she looked for Naoki's number in her phone.

Kero sighed. Why did he get the feeling this was just the beginning?

"Nothing," he said. "Do whatever you want Sakura."

* * *

**AN:** It took a while to edit this one for some reason, maybe because I tweaked the ending of the chapter just a tad. So I've decided to put any notes for stories, unless they're warnings, at the end of my chapters and I'm upset with this site right now. I mean I can't even see the line breaks on here anymore they're so faded. Is anyone else having this probably. Would it kill them to darken them? I think I'll email the admins and see what they say.

Hope you enjoyed! And **Review Please** if you enjoyed the chapter or even if you didn't, for ff. net has made it so easy to simply put your arrow right in that big box that follows and type a quick review where you can also easily favorite and follow this story.


	3. Lunch Date

**Chapter Three  
Lunch Date  
**

"Yue! Kero!" Sakura yelled as she bustled around trying to get ready for her lunch date.

When she called to tell him, Naoki said he hadn't been expecting her to call so early, and that if she had been so eager, she could have saved herself the trouble and gone out with him after the show. She was glad that he couldn't see her blush and when he finally stopped teasing her, she explained that perhaps he should come to the house for lunch first.

He hadn't been opposed and so that left Sakura to herself to get the house ready for him the next Sunday. She was more excited than she thought she'd be at the prospect of him coming to the house. If she were being honest with herself, she liked him more than she was willing to let on.

Yue and Kero appeared in the doorway, watching her set up tea and lunch at the small table.

"I'm having company over in a few minutes," she said. "Do you mind staying upstairs while he's here?"

"He?" Yue asked.

"Yes," Sakura said. "Naoki. I met him at the fashion show last week. He asked me out, but since I don't know him that well, I invited him to the house."

"And we're your back up just in case he turns out to be a nut," Kero said dryly.

Sakura laughed a little but said, "That's kind of the idea."

Yue sighed. "We wouldn't have left you here alone with him anyway. We'll be upstairs."

He left the room, and Sakura looked at Kero, who shrugged and followed his brother. It was hard for Sakura to tell what was going through Yue's head sometimes. Sometimes a curt dismissal as the one he had just showed meant he really didn't care and other times, it was his way of trying to hide his annoyance.

Sakura sighed. Maybe she shouldn't go through with this. Maybe it wasn't too late to call Naoki and…

The sound of the doorbell ringing dismissed any idea Sakura had of cancelling this. He was here now and she wouldn't turn him away. So she went to answer the door. When she opened it, Naoki was there to greet her, holding a small angel plush toy.

She smiled as he handed it to her.

"How sweet… You could have just gotten flowers like everyone else," she said.

Naoki shrugged as she let him inside.

"I started to, but I walked by and had a feeling you might like it more," he said to her. "Do you?"

"Don't tell anyone, but I have a whole collection of plush toys hidden away in my closet. My friends would never stop teasing me if they found out."

"We're all allowed to keep a hobby or two that reminds us of easier, more carefree times. I'm sure you're not alone," he said to her.

Sakura smiled as she led him to where they were sitting and gestured for him to have a seat on the couch.

"I'm glad someone thinks that," she said. "My brother and Yue find it to be a little ridiculous."

"Your brother? Is he here?" Naoki asked.

Sakura shook her head. "My brother moved out years ago. And trust me. You don't want him to be here. He might not be so nice to you."

"Protective?"

"Very."

"Understandable. I feel the same way about Misa sometimes."

"Only sometimes?" Sakura asked pouring him tea.

"Misa and I have a love-hate relationship you can say," Naoki admitted

Sakura rolled her eyes and said dryly, "Sounds like Yue and me."

"Yue?"

"My guardian. He can be a little frustrating sometimes, but he's there when it counts," Sakura said smiling fondly at the thought of her moon guardian.

"What about your parents?"

Sakura's smile twitched, threatening to disappear completely.

"They're not here anymore. My mother passed when I was three and my dad last year. It was very sudden," Sakura said.

"An accident?" Naoki asked.

Sakura shook her head. "No. He just wanted to be with my mother."

And it was true. Sakura couldn't give Naoki the details, but after she had changed all the cards and spilt the reincarnation of Clow Reed, unlocking the magic her father possessed he began to see her mother. It was fine at first. He was happier, but slowly it turned bittersweet. Her mother was still dead and he was alive. They were still separated by that barrier and since her mother couldn't return to life, her father decided he would follow her to the afterlife.

It used to make Sakura jealous. She was afraid of ghosts, but she would have liked to see her mother. However, Sakura decided after her father died she was glad. It would have only made the pain of not having her there worse.

"A frown doesn't suit you," Naoki said tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. "You seem to be getting along fine from it, so don't be sad."

"Oh," Sakura said blinking. "I'm not."

"So you live by yourself?"

"No. Yue and Kero stay here."

"Kero?" Naoki asked

Sakura cringed inwardly. Kero's presence was so normal to her that sometimes she forgot no one else could actually meet him, unless she wanted them to figure out she could use magic.

"He's… he's my cat. He's here, but he doesn't really like people and he's really lazy. He mostly lies around and eats all day," Sakura replied. It wasn't a complete lie.

"Where's Yue now?"

"Um… He's gone most of the day, though to be honest I don't think you'd want to meet him. He can be a little grumpy."

Naoki laughed. "It must be lonely then, being in a big empty house most of the time then."

Sakura shrugged. "Sometimes. My brother thought we should sell it and I'd move in with him and his boyfriend, but I couldn't bring myself to part with it."

Naoki took a cookie, mindful of the ones with a lot of frosting and seeming to favor the ones with nothing on it, Sakura observed. Then he said, "Then I'll have to come around more, just to make sure you're not lonely in this empty house all day, if you let me."

Sakura blushed. She could tell he didn't mean anything by it. Her magic allowed her to gauge that. But a seventeen year old just didn't have random friends that were twelve years her senior. To allow something like that meant that she might be interested in something more than a friendship and truthfully, she was beginning to. There was something about Naoki, a certain sincerity and eagerness to get to know her that hadn't been present in any of her previous attempts at dating. She really liked him; certainly enough that it took her mind off Yue and no one had been able to do that in a while.

"I think… I think I might like that."

* * *

The afternoon flew by quickly and soon Naoki had to leave, but he promised to keep in touch, specifically saying, "I'll call you this time," and kissing her on the cheek.

Sakura leaned on the door and resisted the urge to squeal, before running upstairs and dashing into her room to get her phone.

"Kero, where's my phone?" Sakura asked.

He shrugged. "Yue threw it somewhere the fourth time Tomoyo called."

"Yue!" Sakura called. "Where'd you throw my phone?"

Yue came into the room, seeing her bustling around the room looking for her phone. Seeing the urgent and excited way she was looking for it, he said, "I take it you enjoyed yourself."

Sakura stopped looking for her phone for a moment and looked at him.

"I… yes," she said. "He wants to go out on a real date next time. He said he'll call me."

"That's nice," Yue said.

Sakura began to look for her phone again, but then stopped, looking at Yue and asking, "What do you think?"

Yue looked at her from where he was staring out the window. "Think about what?"

"Naoki. I know you peaked in on us once or twice. I saw you. Do you think if he asks, I should go out with him?"

Anyone who didn't know the entire situation would think that Sakura was simple looking for approval from the one of the male figures she trusted the most in her life, but Yue, Sakura, and Kero knew better. It was a test. If Yue showed any sign that he didn't want her to, any sign that her doing this was bothering him in any way whether it was hurt or jealously or a sign that he had the same feelings toward her that she did, no matter how unsure, she'd stop her relationship with Naoki before it began.

"What does it matter what I think about you dating a thirty year old?" Yue muttered.

"And what are you? Knocking on four hundred?" Sakura asked dryly. It was an old game for Sakura, when she was bored, to guess how old her moon guardian really was. He wouldn't tell her, but that never stopped her from trying. It was too fun to mess with him sometimes.

"I'm not _that_ old," Yue said and then added, "Besides, my age has nothing to do with this."

"I think it does."

Yue broke eye contact with her again and said, "He seemed nice enough. Do you like him?"

Sakura blushed, suddenly very interested in the threads of her comforter.

"Yes," she replied.

"Then do as you please. Your phone's in there with that ridiculous stuffed toy collection of yours," Yue said.

Sakura frowned, muttering to herself that Naoki didn't think it was ridiculous as she reached into the box and grabbed her phone, seeing that she had seven missed calls from Tomoyo. She started out the room, stopping in front of Yue before she completely left the room.

"You really think I should?"

"If that's what you want."

She nodded, trying to hide how much his indifference on the entire matter bothered her, and left the room.

Yue went back to staring absently out the window, and after silently observing his brother for a while Kero rolled his eyes and said a silent prayer of thanks to whoever might be listening for the fact that he didn't have to deal with this, that thankfully, he wasn't created to look or be human because, and he hated saying it, humans were just too complicated for him to deal with sometimes.

* * *

He was hoping that she'd be asleep when he got home, but as always there she was waiting on him. At some point she had gotten her face paint and kimono on. He couldn't help but frown though. He liked her better without it.

"Why do you have that on?" he asked.

"Habit, I suppose. Sometimes looking like a queen makes me think like one," she said and then added, "You're back later than you told me you would, Naoki."

Naoki cast a sideways glance at Tsubame before sighing and coming to sit with her.

"You have a problem with that?"

Tsubame smiled, though her expression betrayed no real emotion. "Not really. But you must really like the card mistress to be wasting your time with her."

"She's not a waste of time. Besides, you said it yourself. She's of no consequence to you or do I have to have your permission to have a life on another world?"

Tsubame looked at him for a long time and then said, "You got a little defensive there love. Do you mean to say that someone's really captured the heart of my oldest and closest companion? How did this happen?"

"Well, she's not you for starters," Naoki said dryly.

Tsubame laughed. "Of course she's not. And don't act like that Naoki. I know you love me."

"Most of the time," Naoki said .

"All of the time," Tsubame corrected as she laughed. "You've proven that. But you can love someone and dislike them at the same time."

Naoki shrugged, not feeling up to arguing with Tsubame about that one. Instead he said, "So does it make you jealous, that I'm interested in someone else?"

Tsubame turned her attention back to the book in her lap.

"Not at all," she said.

"Why not?"

Tsubame looked at him, a fond, knowing look on her face.

"Because love, you always come back," she said and then sighed. "In any case, I figured out why my powers don't work properly and where Leo went."

"Took you long enough. I hate not being stuck like this."

"I know. But I don't know the rules of this type of travel, so I had to study, look for information and rumors. It was fun, not knowing why something is happening for once and having to figure it out. I haven't done that in a while," Tsubame said.

"The problem," Naoki said impatiently.

"Oh yes," Tsubame said. "According to what I've collected, I had to pay a price to get here."

"A price?" Naoki asked. "I thought you-"

"I did," Tsubame muttered. "But even I have to follow certain rules and it seems my collector took advantage of that with the loss of my full power by keeping Leo and some other things…"

"Not following Tsubame."

"From what I'm guessing, the suppression of my magic is the universe's way of keeping balance since I've essentially tipped the scales a little. Actually, I'm beginning to think it's a failsafe for people like me."

"You guess?" Naoki asked.

Tsubame nodded. "I was never the expert when it came to magical theory and you know it. I'm just going to have to play this one by ear and figure out how to get my powers back as I go. Until then, I have to do this the old fashion way."

Naoki sighed. Why was he not at all surprised? Still, it didn't mean he was any less frustrated. "So that means we're all stuck like this until you can figure it out?"

"Well, at least that means you can spend some time with your little card mistress. Perhaps you may get her to see things our way. She may be of no consequence right now in the sense that she can't stop me, but I'm going to need her," Tsubame admitted.

Naoki supposed he'd do what he could, but he doubted it, and when he said as much to Tsubame she tilted her head and asked, "Why not?"

"Because she loves her moon guardian. I can hear it in the way she talks about it."

"Kind of like you and I then?" Tsubame asked. "You're right… We'll have to treat that situation with caution… Or maybe not. I think we can use that to our advantage."

"What do you mean we?"

Tsubame smiled, eyebrows raising in more amusement than surprise. "Oh you really like this girl. Maybe I should be jealous. In any case, relax. You can have your fling with her, but remember where your loyalties lie and if you can't get her to accept those loyalties, I'll be forced to play my hand. Understand?"

"Yes _master_."

Tsubame stood up, setting her book down, and went to sit on Naoki's lap. She wrapped her arms around his chest and leaned her head on him.

"Now don't act like that. I just want you to be happy and if Sakura does that, then I want to help make sure you'll have her," she said. "Are we okay now?"

"When have we ever been okay, Tsubame?" Naoki asked.

"Exactly," Tsubame said.

Naoki laughed lightly at that.

"See? You can't stay mad at me for long," Tsubame said patting him on the chest. "In any case, until my powers are back completely, I'll have to make due."

Tsubame then reached into her sleeves to take out two red and gold iron fans.

Naoki frowned. He hadn't seen it in decades, but usually when Tsubame had to resort to using something to channel her magic, her staff was her first option.

"Where's your staff?"

Tsubame sighed. "I told you. I lost Leo and some other things. And I have to admit I've always felt a little naked without it since I always like to keep it close to my heart. Call me sentimental if you want, but it's the truth."

"I've always thought you were sentimental. It's the only reason you keep us around," Naoki said referring to himself and Leo.

"I could never let go of you and Leo. You both know that," Tsubame said playing with the set of fans. "I've never really liked these things. Fans were always Miyuki's weapon of choice. But even though they don't channel my magic like the staff the rare times I use it, they'll do."

Tsubame hummed at the warmth she felt from then. It felt nothing like her staff though, the staff she hadn't used in years, but being forced to use another magical item to channel her magic made her miss it.

"I'm leaving you for a while."

"To do what?"

"Do things the old fashioned way of course."

* * *

**AN:** I knew one time or another my Saturday was going to get so full I wouldn't be able to update and it only took to the third chapter. So here I am, breaking my no updating on Sunday rule to do this because after I went to see Batman (which was so totally awesome!), I had some other things to do. For me, life usually happens on Saturday. Then again, if i hadn't been so persnickety about switching scenes and changing words so they would be just right, I might have gotten this up yesterday morning before my day even started. So anyway, this was actually more of a filler chapter to me (hence the reason I couldn't cup with a better title), but a filler chapter than kind of really needed to happen and it had Tsubame in it and she's really fun to write, especially considering I don't enjoy including MC's in my stories. Anyway, more Tuesday and this time it will be on time because I have nowhere to go Tuesday... I hope.

Hope you enjoyed! And **Review Please** if you enjoyed the chapter or even if you didn't, for ff. net has made it so easy to simply put your arrow right in that big box that follows and type a quick review where you can also easily favorite and follow this story.


	4. Future

**Chapter Four  
Future  
**

"Have you ever thought about your future?"

The question took Sakura by surprise. Then again, Naoki seemed to know just what to do to surprise her, in good ways of course. He had called her as promised and immediately went about asking her to go out with him Saturday evening. She happily agreed to it, and seeing it as a momentous occasion, Tomoyo made her way over to help her get ready.

It was just a casual date, nothing too fancy or expensive. Sakura didn't like that stuff anyway. It was too artificial for her. Naoki seemed to have figured that out too. So instead of a fancy dinner at a fancy restaurant, they had a casual evening picnic in the park. When she had first opened the basket, she was wowed by the fact that he seemed to have been able to figure out what she generally liked and when she asked how, he told her he had been observing at her house. It was during their walk when they had been casually conversing about nothing at all that Naoki asked his sudden question.

It took a while for her to answer because honestly, she never gave it much thought, not seriously anyway. She knew what was expected of her, but other than that…

"I don't know. I never thought much about it really."

"Oh?"

Sakura nodded.

"Why not?"

Magic was one of the reasons, Sakura thought to herself. That had changed her perspective on everything. But she couldn't tell Naoki that.

"I don't know. I use to want to go to the Olympics since I was so athletic when I was younger."

"What happened to that?"

"Life happened. I got distracted and kind of forgot about it," Sakura said and then sighed. "Too late now though."

"I think you could still do it, if you wanted to."

Sakura shrugged. "Maybe. But there's really no need for me to. Someway, somehow, I always find myself taken care of by people. So it's no big deal."

Naoki shook his head. "I didn't mean for money. I mean something to do just because you want to do it or just because you can do it."

"That's true."

"Well what do you like to do? Model?"

Sakura laughed. "I just did that for Tomoyo. I don't like all the attention. Besides, I'm not tall enough to be a model."

"That never stopped Misa," Naoki said wryly. "You two are around the same height."

"But Misa takes command of the catwalk when she walks," Sakura said remembering seeing the woman come down the walk. "And she has the model look."

"You do too," Naoki said putting a hand on her back. "Grow your hair out a little and…"

Sakura laughed. "Long hair is too much trouble."

"I think it would look good on you though."

Sakura hoped she didn't look as uncomfortable as she was certainly feeling. She was almost certain he was saying it in an as a matter of fact way, but the matter was that he still said it, with his hand still resting on her back.

"Enough about me," she said trying to hide her discomfort. "What about you? What do you do?"

"Manage Misa's life."

"Your life can't possible just revolve around Misa," Sakura said dryly.

"You asked what I did. And it is what I do. My career usually revolves around hers," Naoki admitted.

"Then maybe I need to rephrase that," Sakura replied. "What do you like to do?"

Naoki shrugged. "Probably a tossup between playing piano and drawing portraits. It's actually hard to say when I picked up those two hobbies though, and I'm not really sure which one I picked up first."

"Then that's what we'll do next time," Sakura decided.

"Do what?"

"Next time, we'll come here and you'll draw a portrait of me! I always wanted a portrait of myself done. Tomoyo-she's my best friend by the way-is always filming me, but that a portrait be new. That is if I can sit still long enough," Sakura added.

"You'd like there to be a next time?"

Sakura blushed, realizing what she had said and quickly amended, "That is if you want there to be. I wasn't trying to be pushy or anything. Just…"

"Sakura."

The way he said her name more than the fact that he did so was enough to stop her rambling. She liked the way he said her name. He said it gently, like she might break if he said it too harshly. Not many people said her name like that. In fact, only…

"You know what I think about my future right now?" Naoki asked cutting off her thoughts.

"What?"

"I'd like my future with more of you in it, if you'd allow me."

Sakura had never felt like this. How could someone make her feel so giggly and tingly inside? She started to answer him when he put a finger on her chin to tilt her head so that she was looking up at him, and then pressed his lips gently against hers.

Sakura was surprised at first and then realizing she liked the feeling, the chemistry that was between them, kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck. Naoki then wrapped his arms around her waist, and Sakura felt like she was floating, not realizing that it might be due to the fact that Naoki had literally lifted her off her feet. She wasn't really aware of anything really, just consumed in the moment until she felt Naoki's hand slip under the back of her shirt.

She gasped at the touch and then pulled away and not realizing she wasn't on her own two feet anymore almost fell, but Naoki caught her.

"I'm sorry. I just… That took me by surprise is all."

He pulled her to him in a warm, gentle embrace.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I guess I just got a little carried away. I'm not trying to rush you into anything. We can take this as slow as you want," he whispered in her hair.

Sakura smiled putting her hands on his chest, enjoying the warmth his embrace provided her with.

"Naoki."

"Yes."

Sakura inhaled his scent. He smelled like lavender, not like an artificial perfume she might buy in a store, but a musky flowery scent that made her aware of his masculinity.

Finally she said, "I think I'd a future with more of you in it too."

* * *

Kero couldn't remember the last time Sakura had stayed out this late and so a little concerned, he was waiting for her to come back, looking out for her out the window. He saw her coming down the sidewalk, appearing to be laughing and trying to push Naoki away at the same time. He looked at the latch on the window. If he opened it, he'd be able to hear what they were saying as they approached.

Curiosity getting the best of him, Kero undid the latch and then slid the window open just a little to hear what they were saying.

"What are you doing?" Yue asked him from where he was on the floor.

"Being the ever dutiful guardian," Kero replied.

"More like being nosy is what," Yue said getting up and closing the window back.

"Spoil sport," Kero muttered though he continued to look out the window. He whistled a little and then said, "Looks like this might be serious."

"What makes you say that?" Yue asked.

Kero pointed out the window, and Yue knelt down beside him to look. It was Sakura and Naoki. They were in front of the house and locked in what was no doubt a passionate embrace and kiss.

Yue's blue eyes, darkened into a steely gray. "He should keep his hands to himself. She's still just a child."

Kero rolled his eyes. "You're just jealous that you're not the one down there with your hands all over her."

"Don't be ridiculous."

Kero sighed. Yue and his ego… But it wasn't just Yue. Sakura liked to talk about how stubborn Yue could be, but she needed to look in the mirror. She was just as bad and when two people like that were interested in each other, it could only mean complications. Sakura going out with Naoki was one of them.

Sakura was the one to pull away first and giggled when Naoki tried to kiss her again, but she wouldn't let him. Naoki then let her go and tapped her nose before kissing her on the cheek this time. He watched Sakura get to the front door and then left.

"Think we should go down and greet her?" Kero asked.

Yue only crossed his arms, trying to hide his annoyance.

"She'll be up soon enough."

Sakura came up a few seconds later, in a daze and holding her cheeks. She sat on her bed, apparently unaware of Kero and Yue sitting by the window. She sighed and then giggled.

"I'm guessing you had a good time," Yue asked.

If Sakura had been paying attention, she would have noticed the icy tone in which Yue spoke. But alas, she was too caught up in her own dream world to notice.

"Naoki's so sweet," she sighed. "He took me to the park and we had dinner and then we took a walk. Then he said he's like a future with me in it. But he's so understanding. He agreed we can take our relationship as slow as I want." Sakura giggled again. "I think I may have a new boyfriend!"

Before anyone could reply to it, Sakura's phone suddenly rang. And it was lucky it did too, for Yue had about had it with her giggles and talking about Naoki, ready to bring her back down to earth with a scathing comment.

"Yes?" Sakura said.

"_Hello Sakura. Sorry it took so long to get back to you. You called?"_

"Oh… Oh yeah," Sakura replied.

Tsubame hadn't showed her face again since their first meeting nearly two weeks ago. So, Sakura had almost forgotten about her encounter with the woman. When she told Eriol as much, he frowned.

"_There's a smart one."_

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked putting the phone on speaker so that Kero and Yue could hear too.

"_Obviously she knows it'll work out better if she starts underground, away from noticeable eyes. Not that she needs to. Didn't you say your attack didn't work on her?"_

"Yes. And it was so weird to. She seemed so confident that she could accomplish what she wanted without much trouble. In fact, it seemed like she wanted a challenge. She said her world had gotten boring.

"_Did she say what her world was?"_

"She just said somewhere in the universe."

Eriol was silent, not generally a good sign and then he said, _"So the question is what this world is. But according to you she said something about not being able to properly harness her magic. That means she'll be looking for a way to do that."_

"Then how would she do that?" Sakura asked.

"_I'll have to find out. Not only have I never heard of her, but I've never heard of anything like this happening in my memories or in Clow's…"_

"So what do we do?"

"_There's nothing you can do. Not until you know what her plan is and not until she shows back up again."_

"In other words, we have to wait for her to make a move."

"_Roughly."_

Sakura sighed, thanking Eriol all the same before hanging up the phone.

"Well that was a lot of help. He's about as clueless as we are," she said.

"Maybe more if you think about it," Yue added causing Kero and Sakura to look at him.

"How so?" they both asked.

"Is it just me or do you get the feeling we've met Tsubame before?"

"Met Tsubame?" Sakura asked biting her lip as she looked in her lap. "Now that you mention it, her aura felt similar to one I've seen before, but that could virtually be anyone. I don't make a habit of committing every magician's aura to memory unless I feel I need to."

"I have to admit I felt like I met her before, but then again, it seems like that may just be part of her personality. She asked us to help her," Kero reminded.

"It's just a little strange is all," Yue pointed out.

It was strange, Sakura thought to herself the next day as she tried to finish her homework, but she really wasn't able to focus on it, not when the picture of WINDY harmlessly passing right through Tsubame kept replaying in her mind. Sakura sighed, trying to think of something else instead and her date with Naoki came to mind. His openness surprised her. No subject was off limits with him, even when she asked about his own family to which he replied that sometimes they more like business partners than family because of certain events that were beyond anyone's direct control. Despite the fact that he had said it so casual, Sakura apologized for asking about what had to be a touchy subject, but Naoki shrugged it off replying that it was a long time ago. He was over it.

"_Time is the best healer of wounds," Naoki said to her._

Time… She supposed that were true, but if that was the case, what was it about Yue's past that was taking so long to heal, so much so that he would never admit that he had some type of feelings for her.

"Sakura."

Sakura looked up. Only Yue said her name so gently, like her name was a precious jewel to be handled delicately. She smiled when he saw that he was holding a tray in his hand and when she cleared some of her work aside, he sat it in front of her.

"You should take a break. You've been doing this all morning."

Sakura took a sandwich off the plate while saying a quiet, "Thank you."

"It was no trouble," Yue said sitting across from her.

Sakura enjoyed these moments with her moon guardian, when he sat and watched her to make sure she was taking care of herself. It had started after her father died and she had insisted to her brother that she didn't need him to take care of her, that she could take care of herself. At that time, Yue only made a periodic visit every few weeks or so, under the pretense that she didn't need him.

But apparently worried about whether she was taking care of herself or not, Kero and Toya had managed to get Yue to stick around a little more citing that only his stubbornness could match her own. So he did. When she didn't want to eat, he forced her and when she wanted to stay up late and busy herself with something she deemed important, he forced her to bed and when she wanted to sleep but couldn't, he held her to him. He knew everything about her, every nuance, every like, every dislike.

It had been easy to ignore the feelings she had for him when he only came around when he felt like it every few weeks or so. But everything had gotten so much more complicated when he stuck around. And though he needed his space every now and then, which would result in him leaving the house for a while, she never worried. Yue always came back to her.

But despite their closeness, he still wasn't open with her, not honest and maybe that was the reason her relationship with Naoki was taking off so fast. His openness helped to move it along and while she knew that Yue cared for her, they'd never get anywhere if he didn't open up to her a little more.

"Yue," she said.

He hummed lazily, eyes closed, but not trying to go to sleep.

"Why aren't you ever honest with me?"

Yue opened his eyes at that, raising an eyebrow and asking, "You think I lied to you about something."

Sakura shook her head. "That's not what I mean."

She crawled around to his side and knelt next to him.

"I mean you're never honest with me about your emotions, what things make you feel. I always have to try and figure it out. You're so guarded," she explained.

"Don't concern yourself with such a thing. I'm supposed to take care of you, not the other way around," he said moving a strand of hair out her face and behind her ear.

"But that's just it!" Sakura said grabbing his hand in hers, causing Yue to stiffen. "You take care of me. And I'd like to take care of you if you would let me."

His eyes softened a bit as she spoke and leaned her face into the hand she holding, beginning to move it up and down. But as always, there was only so far Yue was willing to go and he pulled his hand away from her gently.

"I don't need anyone to take care of me," he said and stood to his feet. "Take care of your new boyfriend."

Anyone who didn't understand Yue wouldn't have seen a big deal in his words, but Sakura got the message. It was his way of turning her away, rejecting her affection for him.

"Yue," she said though she kept her eyes in her lap to hide the tears in her eyes.

"What?"

The tears threatened to fall at his sharp tone, but she held them back and said, "Why still after all this time don't you trust me?"

She chanced a glance at him. He was still, as though stuck, trying to decide whether to turn around and embrace her or just walk away. He did neither, but Sakura would have preferred he said nothing at all instead of what he did say.

"It's not you. I don't trust anyone," he said and then left the room.

Sakura let the tears fall silently when he left, and if it weren't for her phone ringing, she would have curled up on the couch and fallen asleep. She answered it without looking to see who it was.

"Hello," she said.

"_Sakura."_

She blinked a little. The way he said her name was the exact same way Yue said her name. But the difference was that Naoki treated her exactly the same way he said. Yue only did so to a certain degree.

"_Sakura," he said again when she didn't answer._

"Sorry… Hi Naoki."

"_You sound upset. Are you okay?"_

"No, no! I'm fine," Sakura said hastily wiping her tears. "I was just watching a movie is all. So what's up?"

"_That's just it. Nothing. I'm bored. Let's go somewhere if you're not busy."_

Sakura looked at her homework. She really should be finishing it, but she wasn't in the mood now. Maybe she needed to have some fun.

"Okay. How long will you be?"

"_Not long."_

"Really? Where are you?" Sakura asked so she could gauge the time she had to get ready.

"_Outside your house."_

Sakura gasped and went to look out the window. Sure enough, Naoki was there. He smiled when he saw her peeking through the window. She smiled back and went away from the window.

"Give me five minutes," Sakura said hanging up the phone and coming to a decision. Naoki was a nice man who wanted to open up to her, who didn't hold back and so neither would she. Naoki would be her future because he wanted her to be in it, and Sakura was beginning to realize that she wanted to part of it too.

* * *

**AN:** Well it seems I wasn't as persnickety with this chapter as I was with the last, though I'm not quite sure why that is. I don't have a lot of comments for this story and maybe that's because anything I could say could spoil the story so maybe I'll come up with a whole list of trivia to put at the end of this story. I can say one thing though. It was really fun building up a romantic relationship in this. I've done it before, but not on this level and to this degree and I've never done love triangles before, so this story was certainly a new experience writing in a lot of ways. In a lot of ways, I felt like I was writing Sailor Moon again and that became a problem, at least at the beginning of the story. After the first few chapters that feel kind of went away for me or wasn't so heavy that I was worried about it.

And just to give a heads up, as of Chapter **Six,** this story will be **M Rated. **Now that doesn't mean there will be any M-Rated content in that chapter. I'm just giving the heads up that in order to find this story if you're not following it or it's not in your favorites, you'll have to change the ratings filter to find it.

Hope you enjoyed! And **Review Please** if you enjoyed the chapter or even if you didn't, for ff. net has made it so easy to simply put your arrow right in that big box that follows and type a quick review where you can also easily favorite and follow this story if you already haven't.


	5. Making Plans

**Chapter Five  
Making Plans  
**

All of one week and she had the young clan leader of the Li family wrapped around her finger. Tsubame had always craved this power, not because she particularly wanted it, but because she needed it, needed it if she wanted to get anywhere in life and to get power there were at least two out of three things a person needed: money, prestige, and connections. It didn't matter what order, because usually one led to the other. The Li Clan had all three.

She had learned centuries ago that government and political offices were a sham. Democracy, communism, socialism, they were all just illusions. The real people in charge were the ancient families. Every world had them and they were the people that the media never covered because they controlled the media, they controlled all the corporations and empires, they controlled the families who supposedly controlled the corporations and empires. She had also learned that many of those families were always the head magical families.

It was a well kept secret. The run of the mill sorcerer didn't know this, and she had been lucky enough to stumble upon it when she was younger and had jumped at the opportunity. It was something Tsubame wouldn't have even considered if she were at her full magical strength, but alas she wasn't. So she'd use the best assets a woman had; her body and the right charm.

The first thing she had to do though was consider her options. Which magical family first? The two obvious choices were the Reed's and the Li's. They were a tad more public than the others and also the most powerful. Egypt and Rome's family weren't ambitious enough for her to even bother with. In the end, she had chosen the Li's. On the surface, she might have chosen the Reeds, they had the glamour, the money, the prestige and they had everything they wanted, but they were a greedy bunch. Power was a delicate balance of keeping the people under happy by making them think they allowed the one in charge power and the one with the real power not letting it be known that such a thought was a lie. At the rate their country was going, Tsubame would have to stave off a revolution before she could enact her plan and though she enjoyed a challenge, the mess the Reed family was in would take more power to control than she had to deal with at the moment.

The Li Clan was the obvious choice. Not only were they ambitious, but they understood the delicate balance that had to be kept and she would maintain that balance until such a time she could retain the rest of her power and everyone would know who ruled them. They weren't greedy and that was the Reed Family's weakness. She'd use that to her advantage later though.

It had been too easy. As level headed as the young man was, he was just that, a man. And if a woman could make a man want her, she ruled him. So all it took under the guise of her alter, Misa, was the right words here, a little charm there and just the right showing of flesh and she could make him do anything she wanted, even marry her. Tsubame was lucky she was a good actor. Being Misa, though annoying at times because she hated hiding herself, was easy. After a few weeks, he introduced her to the rest of the family and she had enthralled them with her innocent charm, her polite manners, a taste of her feisty temper every now and then. After a while, she had even the elders around her finger, though they didn't know it. But there was one problem.

Her name was Meiling.

For some reason, the girl wouldn't fall for Tsubame's game and any kink in her plan could ruin everything. Then Tsubame figured it out. The girl was in love with the Clan leader.

"How cute…" Tsubame said to herself when she was alone one day. "If I didn't find her so annoying, she'd make a valuable asset to me."

Any other woman in Tsubame's place would be trying to figure out how to get rid of Meiling, showing Meiling her malice or killing her (right then anyway) would only put Tsubame's plan risk. This was one of those times Tsubame could have used Naoki to help her, make the girl fall in love with him. But he was back in Japan with his little card mistress and he seemed happy with her. Tsubame wouldn't take that from him. She'd just have to figure it out, hence the reason she had invited the girl for tea.

"Meiling. There you are! I was beginning to wonder whether or not you'd come," Tsubame said.

"Believe me Misa," Meiling said. "I started not to."

"Then I'll cut to the chase. I know you don't like me," Tsubame said.

Meiling rolled her eyes. "If this is your way of trying to become friends, forget it. I won't fall for your charm like every other person on this estate has."

"I wasn't going to ask you to," Tsubame said sweetly. "I was going to say that I know how it feels to love someone who won't love you in return

"What?"

"You love Syaoran. Don't you?" Tsubame asked.

Meiling looked taken aback. "How… How did you know?"

"You don't like me first of all and for no apparent reason either," Tsubame said. "That and the way your eyes soften when you look at him, like he's your only constant, the one person you know will always be by your side no matter what you go through."

Tsubame honestly knew the feeling, but she also knew that the always part wasn't always the case. Sometimes a loved one did leave, but the important part was that they were always there when it counted. She knew that from experience. It was nothing to get upset over if a person could figure that out. Therefore love was nothing to get upset about. Sometimes you won and sometimes you lost.

"I don't need your apologies."

"I didn't plan to give them to you," Tsubame said to her. "I'm not sorry that Syaoran doesn't love you or else, he wouldn't love me."

And that was what counted, not that Tsubame loved Syaoran, because she didn't and so far, she hadn't lied about that fact to anyone. The boy had taken her wanting to be assured of the fact that he loved her as a sign that she loved him. She almost rolled her eyes. So easy to fool.

"But, I did want you and I to come to a truce of some sort," Tsubame said. "I think we both want Syaoran to be happy."

That wasn't a lie. Tsubame needed the boy to be happy so that she could lure him and his clan into a false sense of security.

"So we'll at least try to get along on the grounds that we both want to make Syaoran happy and if you come up with a way to do so that I don't come up with, let me know. We don't have to be friends. But we don't have to be enemies either."

With that, Tsubame stood up before Meiling might protest, because no doubt the girl was going to. She probably would never agree to it, but the important thing was that the girl could never accuse her of being malicious, could never say she hadn't reached out or had some unrealistic expectation of what their relationship was. Tsubame sighed. She'd didn't have high expectations for the girl in regards to her plan. She would only get in the way. It was too bad really. She would have made a great ally.

* * *

"Alright. That's it Sakura. You've been going out with this guy for four weeks, and I've still yet to meet him."

Sakura sighed. Her brother had been nagging her about it for days now. She hadn't planned on him finding out so soon, but he happened to use her phone, accidently went through the call history, and found Naoki's name popping up quite a bit.

Sakura knew it was only a matter of time, but still...

"It's only been a month Toya. I haven't been with him that long. I don't think it's serious enough to force him to meet you," Sakura said.

"That's not what Yukito said," Toya shot back.

Sakura looked up from her dinner to look at Yukito who laughed nervously.

"What did you say?" she asked.

"Only that I saw you with him at the movies the other day," Yukito said looking away.

"Why didn't you say hi?" Sakura asked. She hadn't seen Yukito at the movies recently, least of all with Naoki.

"Because… You were both kind of distracted."

Sakura took in a short breath. She remembered that day. It had been about a week ago and what she intended to be a kiss to greet Naoki turned into a passionate session that almost resulted in them missing their movie. So maybe she was lying a little when she said her relationship with Naoki wasn't very serious yet. It was serious, so much so that the pace at which it was going scared and excited Sakura at the same time. She didn't know what to feel about it.

"So when do I meet him?" Toya asked again.

Sakura blushed and began trying to come up with some random excuse until her phone rang.

She snatched it before Toya could try to grab it and answered it, pretty sure who it was.

"Hi Naoki."

"_Hello Sakura. You sound nervous."_

Sakura laughed a little, looking at Toya who was staring at her with narrowed eyes.

"It's just my brother is giving me the third degree about you. He kind of wants to meet you."

"_Really?"_

"Yeah…" Sakura said.

"I want to talk to him Sakura. Give me the phone," Toya decided.

"No way!"

"_No way what?"_

"Oh! Sorry Naoki. It's Toya, he's- Eep!" Sakura leapt out her chair as Toya reached across the table to try to snatch the phone from her. "Toya stop it."

She blushed when she heard Naoki laughed.

"I'm so sorry. My brother is just so… Toya stop it!"

Sakura ducked out of Toya's reach, the noise it caused only causing Naoki to laugh more.

"Naoki… Can I call you back later, like after I throw my brother out the house?"

Naoki laughed again.

"_Tell you what? If your brother wants to meet me so much, how about we have dinner or something?"_

"Uh… At your house maybe? That would force my brother to have to be polite."

"_You've seen my place. It's not that big."_

"You've been over to his house? Why?" Toya demanded.

"He was painting a portrait of me you _baka_!" Sakura said.

"In what state!"

"Toya!"

"_How about this then? I was calling to ask if you wanted to go to the end of spring festival Sunday evening anyway. Why don't we make this a family thing? I'll see if I can get Misa to come and you get your brother and his boyfriend to come?"_

"Can Tomoyo come too? You know, kill two birds with one stone?"

"_That's fine. And bring your guardian too. Yue right? I haven't met him yet either."_

Sakura paused. Yue… They're relationship was a little strained to say the least.

"_Sakura."_

Sakura blinked. "Yeah… That's fine. I'll just tell everyone."

"Tell everyone what?" Toya asked, having given up trying to take the phone.

"Alright. I'll call you later," Sakura said and hung up the phone.

"So?" Toya asked.

"He invited everyone to come to the end of spring festival Sunday evening," Sakura said to him. "There will be people around, so that means you have to behave!"

"Fine, whatever…" Toya grumbled as Sakura started up the stairs. "Where are you going?"

"I'll be back. Don't worry," Sakura said going to find Yue.

At first, she had been a little angry at him, upset that he'd shun her when it was obvious he felt something for her. Then she wondered if there was something wrong with her, if she had done something to him. She didn't remember doing so. But who knew when it came to Yue. Now she just missed him. Sure he still took care of her, but that was just something he always did. She wanted her friend back. So putting her hurt feelings aside, she looked for him in the house and finally found him on the roof.

"I've told you about doing that," Sakura said to him as she called FLY back to her. "Do you know how odd it looks to the neighbors to see two people on the roof to begin with, let alone with wings?"

He made a sound. It might have been a laugh. Sakura wasn't sure though. But in any case, his wings disappeared. She made her way to stand next to him.

"What are you doing out here anyway?" she asked.

"Thinking I suppose," Yue said.

"You suppose?"

Yue sighed. "I came out here to clear my head. It's not working."

"You know," Sakura began, "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable earlier, when I asked if you'd let me take care of you. I was just worried about you. You don't seem to have an opinion about all this, my dating Naoki that is."

"What does my opinion on it matter?"

"I think you may know the answer to that," Sakura said and then added, "Your opinion always matters."

"Sakura…"

Sakura knew that tone. He was about to gently push her away again, so she hastily said, "But let's put all that behind us right now. In any case, since Toya wants to meet Naoki so badly, we're going to the end of spring festival. Naoki would like it if you'd come too."

Yue was silent, the annoyed expression that usually crossed his features when she suggested this kind of thing absent.

"I don't care if Naoki wants me to come or not. What do his feelings matter to me?" Yue asked.

Sakura sighed. Brutally honest as always…

"Alright then. I'm not surprised. You don't like this kind of stuff anyway."

"But," Yue continued stopping Sakura who was about to leave the roof, "I'll go if you want me to."

Sakura blinked and reared her head back in surprise.

"Really?"

"Do you want me to go?" he asked again.

"I... Yes. I'd like it if you came," Sakura replied trying to fight her blush. Besides, if she wanted anyone to like Naoki, it was Yue. That way, at the very least, he'd still remain with her even if he kept his at a distance.

* * *

Tsubame had a mind of her own, especially when she wanted to accomplish something. Naoki wasn't sure how she was going to do it, but eventually Tsubame would make herself ruler of this world and she'd manipulate whoever she had to in order to do it. That's why he wasn't surprised to hear her gently chiding someone, a temporary lover he supposed, so that she could talk to "her brother" freely.

"So I'm your brother now?" he asked her.

_Tsubame giggled. "You're a lot of things to me love. It wasn't a lie,"_

"Whatever," Naoki said resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "So do you think you can be back in Japan Sunday?"

"_For what?"_

"Sakura's brother apparently wants to meet me, so we're going to an end of spring festival. She's bringing all her family, and I told them I'd try to get you to come."

"_Hm… I remember going to festivals like those with you when I was younger. We were so carefree then. Is that why things with you and that card mistress are getting so serious?"_

Naoki was silent. He didn't need Tsubame's prying.

"_Sounds like I'm not the only one who's sentimental. But seriously Naoki. How serious is this? Have you slept with her yet?"_

"She's a baby compared to me."

"_Stop making up excuse. That hasn't stopped you before. I have to say I'm a little surprised. I thought this might be a short fling, but you really like that naïve child. Should I start planning a wedding?"_

"Jealous?"

Tsubame was silent for a while, but Naoki could just imagine the knowing smile playing on her lips. Finally she said, _"You always come back."_

"So can you come or not?" Naoki asked growing tired of playing with her.

"_Sorry love. I have plans already."_

"Does it have anything to do with you new lover?"

"_Jealous?"_

"Not even remotely," Naoki replied.

"_You shouldn't be. Not the best sex I've ever had, but he serves his purpose."_

Naoki wouldn't even begin to ask or wonder what that purpose was and so he said, "Even if it was something to be jealous of, I have Sakura."

"_I know you do. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go pay some attention to said new lover."_

She hung up the phone, and Naoki shook his head. He had stopped trying to reason with that woman centuries ago.

* * *

**AN:** Once again, I'm rushing out the door before I post this, so I don't have time to say anything on this chapter even if I had something say. In any case, in this chapter we found out what Tsubame's been up to a little and there's more to come. She is of course a devious little character to play with, I tell you.

And remember, as of Chapter **Six,** this story will be **M Rated, **so in order to find this story if you're not following it or it's not in your favorites, you'll have to change the ratings filter to find it.

Hope you enjoyed! And **Review Please** if you enjoyed the chapter or even if you didn't, for ff. net has made it so easy to simply put your arrow right in that big box that follows and type a quick review where you can also easily favorite and follow this story if you already haven't.


	6. Jealousy

******Warning: **This story is rated M and will contain adult themes, sexual situations, some violence, and other things that may or may not offend the reader. These scenes may sometimes be graphic. I will not section off mature content, and I will not tell you ahead of time in the said chapters where content takes place, but feel free to skip said content when it is encountered. Consider yourself sufficiently warned.

* * *

**Chapter Six  
Jealousy  
**

"What's with Yue?"

Sakura blinked in surprise as she lost her concentration and missed the bottles she was throwing the ball at. So far it had been a great night, even if her brother had been a bit cold to the man at first and gave him the general third degree that was always involved when she met a new guy.

"_Toya! Stop being so mean!" Sakura snapped._

Naoki only took it in good humor though, citing that he was the same way when it came to Misa and that she in fact had a new boyfriend he had to intimidate when she got around to bringing him back from China. He allowed Toya to pester him and after Toya was finally done, even dismissed when Toya was acting like a jerk just for the fact that, and Sakura quoted, "He's a nice guy I guess. That means I don't have anything to dislike about him."

It was soon after that they had gone their separate ways, Tomoyo managing to con her brother and Yukito into going on some ride or another with her to give she and Naoki some time to themselves. For that, Sakura was grateful and had happily played games with Naoki, laughed and giggled like the school girl she was any time he decided to be romantic with her. She had been so absorbed in what she was doing that she had forgotten Yue was even present for he had hardly said a word.

"Yue?" she asked looking around.

"He's over there," Naoki said, nodding his head back.

Sakura turned to see Yue leaning on a street pole with his eyes closed, wind blowing a few loose strands of hair in his face. He didn't look bored, but he didn't look like he was having a good time either. However, he seemed to be perfectly content doing whatever he was doing.

"This kind of thing isn't really Yue's scene," Sakura said throwing another ball. "He only came because I asked him to, otherwise he probably would have stayed home."

In fact he wanted to back out, not that he said it, but it was on his face between she and Kero they had joked that Kero should have been the one made in a human form and Yue the one who was the 'beast.' That way he could stay in the house all day and Kero, who was upset that he couldn't go to the festival, could do whatever.

"Anti-social?"

"Somewhat…" Sakura said glancing at her guardian again.

"He must be very protective of you. He's been following us for a while."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Yeah… Yue can be more or less worse than my brother."

"He hasn't bothered us all night, so I'm not sure if that's true or not," Naoki said and stopped her from throwing her next ball. "Since you're so uncoordinated, how about you let me throw that."

"Hey!" Sakura said, but handed it to him anyway.

"Why don't you tell Yue to come join us?" Naoki asked as he tossed the ball up and down in his hand. "I don't mind. Besides, I think you're exaggerating. He can't be any worse than your brother."

"I don't know. Yue has a way about him…" Sakura said but went to go get Yue anyway.

She didn't need to warn him that she was there. He already sensed her approach no doubt. So she grabbed his arm.

"Come on. You're being all anti-social," Sakura said pulling on his arm.

"I can't believe I let you drag me here," he muttered dryly standing up straight.

"You could have said no."

"You have a way of being very persistent. I wouldn't have gotten out of it."

Sakura scowled. "Well maybe if you at least tried to have some fun it wouldn't be that bad. Come on."

"These kind of amusements hardly come close to my definition of fun," Yue replied.

"There must be something…" Sakura said looking around.

"So he's being difficult?"

Naoki came up behind the two, holding a plush cat. He wordlessly handed it to Sakura who said in frustration, "Yes."

"It wouldn't be difficult if you just left me alone," Yue said starting to feel irritated himself.

Naoki snickered.

"You find this funny?" Yue asked glaring at him.

"Yes. You two remind me of Misa and I when we were younger is all. Come on Yue. Would it really hurt to tag along with us? I think Sakura would like it," Naoki said wrapping a hand around Sakura's waist.

No one missed the way Yue's eyes darted to where Naoki arm when he settled it around Sakura. However, just as quick as he looked, he looked away and sighed, getting ready to follow them.

They just walked for a while, only stopping to get Sakura a bag of popcorn before continuing, not sure where they were going. It was the perfect night for a walk anyway. The noise and chatter of the festival began to fade into the background as the three walked, Yue eventually laying an arm around Sakura's shoulder. Sakura didn't notice, not even when they stopped every now and then and she pointed out something Yue might like to do. Finally she sighed.

"I give up. How about we-?" Sakura jumped at the sound of firecrackers nearby, dropping her popcorn and yelling, "Hoe!"

Looking ahead, she saw a group of preteens ahead, amusing themselves with the said objects. Realizing this, Sakura blushed and picked up the bag from her spilled popcorn.

"Sorry," Sakura said softly.

"That's fine," Naoki said. "Why don't you go get some more? We'll wait for you."

Sakura nodded. "I'll be right back," she said before running off.

"I really do hope that one day she'll grow out of that," Yue muttered to himself, not intending for Naoki to hear him.

"I find it endearing," Naoki said. "You'll never know how much you'll miss these times when she's all grown up, more concerned about other things with less innocent view of the world. You should cherish it."

Yue looked at Naoki, trying to decide whether to ignore him or not. He sighed. For Sakura's sake, he'd try to be nice.

"Sounds like you know from experience," he finally replied.

Naoki snorted. "Not at all. Misa might have been innocent at one time before, but she wasn't when I met her."

"Misa your sister?"

Naoki shrugged. "You can call her that if you want, but our status changes depending on the situation."

"Changes?" Yue asked raising his eyebrow and then said more than asked, "You two used to be lovers."

"At one time," Naoki said shrugging. "We were never able to completely work it out. So we decided to do our own things."

"Yet you still take care of her?"

"Tell me this," Naoki said. "Is your relationship with anyone else or her relationship with me going to change the way you take care of Sakura, the way you two relate?"

Yue looked at him for a moment, not quite sure how to take the comment. Finally he said, "No."

"Misa and I are the same way. Look at you and Sakura. You two aren't on good terms right now, but you're faking it for the sake of everyone else."

Yue frowned at that.

"How could you tell?" he asked in a clipped tone.

Naoki chuckled a little. "She talks about you all the time. Trust me. I can tell."

Yue didn't find it funny. In fact, he found it a little conccerning that this man seemed to able to read Sakura so well after only knowing her for a few weeks. He crossed his arms, about to ask him why when Sakura came back.

"Sorry it took so long. I had to wait for them to pop a fresh batch," Sakura said and then frowned at the hard look in Yue's eyes. "Are you okay Yue?"

Yue blinked out of his glare, Sakura not seeming to notice that it was directed at Naoki.

"Yes. I'm fine."

Sakura knew he was lying, but didn't ask anymore about it. Not in front of Naoki anyway. However she didn't miss the way he would sometimes look at Naoki as if trying to find the man underneath and for the life of her, Sakura couldn't pinpoint what it was. It bothered her so that she couldn't properly enjoy herself. When they got home, door closed behind them, she started to ask. But seeming to know what she was going to say before she said it, Yue said, "I don't like him."

Sakura reared her head back in surprise, so stunned that Yue had left the entryway and headed for the sitting room before she could formulate a response. She followed him, finding him back in his true form and heading outside.

"What do you mean you don't like him?" she asked when she caught up to him and followed him outside. "You're the one who told me I should go out with him in the first place."

"Of course I did. He was better than those other idiots you tried to go out with," Yue said testily

"Then what changed."

Yue sighed. "Something about him just rubs me the wrong way."

Sakura wasn't sure what to say about it. Not even her brother could find anything wrong with her new lover. So why was Yue having a problem with it?

"Rubs you the wrong way?" Sakura asked.

"Well for one Misa," Yue said to her. "I don't like the way he talks about her, the way he relates her to you."

"Why is that? Misa's a nice girl."

"It's not that. Have you ever noticed he doesn't seem to know how to define exactly what she is to him?"

Sakura had noticed that, but it hadn't bothered her, not a lot anyway. Maybe because if anyone asked her to define what Yue was to her she wouldn't have an answer either. Guardian just happened to be the safe answer. Fact of the matter was Sakura overlooked Naoki's closeness to Misa. It didn't really bother her.

"If you're worried about the fact that they used to be lovers, don't. Besides, Misa's in China right now, with a new boyfriend so I've heard."

Yue didn't reply to the comment, only moved on to saying, "He knows too much about you."

Sakura blinked at that one. "What do you mean?"

Yue turned from looking at the night sky to Sakura who shivered at how penetrating it was. He then said, "He knows things about you that only I know; things that you keep closely guarded and locked away in your heart. How is it that he can read you so well in such a short time?"

Sakura started to blush and go into a ramble about how Naoki was so gentle and caring that she felt she could just trust him with all her secrets, that she didn't have to hide them. Then she remembered who she was talking to and how he sounded.

"I can't believe you," Sakura said honestly looking at Yue in disbelief. "You're jealous."

Yue scoffed. "Hardly."

Sakura wasn't even going to argue with him. It was no use. They'd only end up not talking again, but at the rate he was going, that was going to happen anyway. She should have walked away after that. She should have just left it alone and hoped Yue was cooled off in the morning preparing her a breakfast to go when she woke up late for school.

Instead she said quietly, "I gave you the chance to stop me you know. I wanted you to."

"Well I'm telling you now," Yue said softly. It wasn't cold, simply fact, a simple truth. He hadn't thought it would last this long, that it would get this serious, that someone else would begin to come to know her like he did.

"I can't," Sakura said biting her lip. "I… I really like Naoki."

It was the truth. She could have stopped herself from liking him before it got started. Maybe they could have been close friends or something, but now… Naoki was so nice to her, so caring, so warm and she enjoyed that. Everything Yue refused to give her, Naoki was willing to. He also didn't chide her when she decided to act childish. In fact, he seemed to quite enjoy it. He was beginning to feel the empty void in her heart that had been present for a long time and she wouldn't suddenly break it off for him just because now Yue decided to be jealous.

Yue huffed in frustration, looking back to the skies.

"Fine," he said. "But I'm warning you. Naoki isn't what he seems."

Sakura decided to leave before Yue said it in a less pleasant way, but before she did, she stopped in the doorway and whisper so that he barely heard her, "How can you expect me to trust you, but you won't trust me?"

She didn't wait for an answer, didn't want one, not if Yue was going to try and justify it in some valid sense of logic.

She collapsed on the couch, looking back out to see Yue and then closed her eyes. Why did he have to decide to be jealous and protective now? A few weeks ago she would have been thrilled.

Her phone ringing snapped Sakura out her thoughts, and she sighed, thankful for the distraction. Not even bothering to look at the caller ID she said, "Hello."

"_Sakura!"_

"Meiling!"

That was a surprise. Though they exchanged the occasional phone call and email, Meiling never called this late, nor did she ever sound so panicky.

"_Sakura, I'm sorry for calling you when it's so late there, but I didn't know what else to do. I was just going to let it go but… Sakura, something isn't right about this and I'm not just saying this because I'm jealous or something!"_

Sakura hardly knew how to respond. Never had she heard Meiling sound so desperate. It had to be something distressing for her to call like this.

"What is it?"

"_Syaoran got married."_

Sakura's jaw dropped, and she nearly dropped her phone too. Did Meiling just say…?

"HOE!"

Kero came flying down the stairs and hearing her exclamation, Yue came from outside.

"_Sakura. Are you there?"_

Sakura blinked out her stupor.

"Yeah… I… He got married! To who!"

"_I don't know. Some girl from Japan. You should see. She's got the whole clan wrapped around her finger. She knows just what to say, when to say it, how to act. She's so… So…"_

"Perfect?" Sakura suggested.

"_That's just it! She's not. She loses her temper, sometimes acts like a little clutz. Sakura, something is up with this girl."_

"Meiling. Are you sure you're not just jealous?" Sakura asked to be sure.

"_Yes I'm sure."_

Sakura sat still for a moment. It did seem odd. She wasn't even sure what to make of it. "Does she have magic?"

"_Limitedly… or so she claims anyway. It's hard to tell from the way she acts. You'd have to meet her for yourself."_

Sakura sighed. "Well it's not like I can get to China any time soon."

"_I know… I just wanted to make sure I hadn't gone crazy, that I wasn't the only one who thought this was weird."_

Weird was right. This wasn't normal, but on the other hand it was nothing that raised a red flag in particular. Unless…

"_What's going on?" Meiling asked taking note of Sakura's sudden silence._

"I don't know if this has anything to do with the suddenness of this, but there's this sorceress that I met almost two months ago. She calls herself the immortal Queen Tsubame. I haven't seen her since though."

"_You think this girl might be connected."_

Sakura shrugged even though Meiling couldn't see her. "I don't know. I mean, what would Tsubame get out of marrying Syaoran? Certainly not power. She seems to have enough of that. My attacks with the cards passed right through her."

"_Still… It's something. Do me a favor and keep me updated on anything you find out about this Queen Tsubame?"_

Sakura nodded and on that note, Meiling greeted her good night.

Sakura hung up the phone and sighed, looking at Yue and Cerberus who were giving her curious looks.

"I think I need to talk to Eriol again. You're not going to believe this…"

* * *

"_You did what?"_

Tsubame laughed. "You heard me. I got married."

The pause on the other end only caused Tsubame to giggle more as she sat in the garden in her red wedding dress, long chocolate hair tied into an elegant bun atop her head with expensive heirloom jewels in it.

"Naoki. Are you still there?"

"_What are you up to?"_

"Do you know how much power the Li's have? Oh this is going to be wonderful. They have a lot of connections. And I think… Yes, I think I'm going to play with their connection to the Reed Family. Taking over will be easy from there. And I was hoping for a challenge," Tsubame said.

"_Don't exaggerate."_

"It's true," Tsubame said seriously, whimsical tone now gone. She had done the research. The Li Clan had bailed the Reeds out of a lot of impending disasters and they owed the Li Clan. She could use this whole thing to her advantage.

"_Well while you're doing that. Have you figured out how to restore your power?"_

Tsubame sighed. "Don't worry love. It'll fall into place."

"_What did you see?"_

It was no secret between them that Tsubame could see the future about as clearly as a person could read the newspaper. She didn't like to use the ability all the time for it took the challenge out of her conquests. It was more fun manipulating people into doing what she wanting and predicting their actions than already knowing them. But Naoki should have known she would take a peek to figure out how to get her magic back.

"Nothing love. Don't worry though. If everything works out, I'll be home soon."

Tsubame hung up the phone and sighed. It would still take a few weeks for her vision to come true and she was able to access her full powers. She sat at the fountain, content to be by herself instead of the celebration. Not that she wanted to celebrate since this was just a step in her ultimate plan. But regardless, she had long grown out of being a social being. All she needed was Naoki, Leo, and her magic. She tossed her head back so that she could feel the cool drizzle of the fountain spray on her face. It was then she heard it, someone else talking.

"Do me a favor and keep me updated on anything you find out about this Queen Tsubame?"

Tsubame lifted her head back up at the sound of her name and then stood up and went to the other side of a tree to find Meiling standing there hanging up her phone. As she turned around, the Chinese girl jumped upon seeing Tsubame.

"You didn't want to go to the party?" Tsubame asked her, playing off the fact that she had been listening.

"I… No," Meiling said.

Tsubame smiled. "Me neither. I much rather be out here and enjoying the quiet. You could join me if you want."

"No thanks," Meiling said blushing a little before she left Tsubame to herself again.

Tsubame frowned as she left. It looked like her offer of a truce with the girl hadn't worked. She'd have to be careful around the girl if she wanted her plan to go off without a hitch, not that a hitch would stop her, but it would definitely slow down her progress, and until she got her powers back that was something that she could not afford to happen.

* * *

**AN:** As I was editing this, I was laughing at the beginning because I had just gone through a similar situation where my mother, sisters, and their friends dragged me to a little outdoor carnival or festival or something Saturday in the name of doing something together as a family and I have to say, Yue was a better sport than I was. I adamantly refused to get out the car and stayed inside to play with my phone despite others trying to coax me out. I mean, what part of it was too hot didn't they get? Honestly, having something like that on a Saturday in the heat of the day in the southern USA…

Anywho, this chapter is now rated M in case anyone missed the warning at the beginning. So remember, if you want to find this story without following it or favoriting it, make sure you remember to go to the filter include the M rating.

Hope you enjoyed! And **Review Please** if you enjoyed the chapter or even if you didn't, for ff. net has made it so easy to simply put your arrow right in that big box that follows and type a quick review. The review count for last chapter was a little low and I'd like a little more feedback. I'm not going to put a review quota. It's just not my style and I don't feel right about forcing readers to review, but I do appreciate comments.


	7. Turning the Tides

**Chapter Seven  
Turning the Tides  
**

"He did what?"

Not much surprised Eriol anymore, but Sakura's words did.

"_Syaoran got married and Meiling doesn't trust the girl. She has a bad feeling about it, especially when I told her about Tsubame. You don't think…"_

Eriol sighed. "There's no way to be certain. Because if that is the case, that begs the question if Tsubame is so powerful, why would she even waste her time?"

"_Could it have something to do with the fact that she can't use all her magic?"_

Eriol had already thought of that. But that didn't make sense, what would she have to gain from doing that? Sure the Li Clan was powerful, but not that powerful. What did she have to gain from doing something so drastic?

"Perhaps. Maybe it's because she's lacking her full magical ability that she's taking such an indirect approach, whatever that approach is," Eriol said. "Don't worry though. I'm still looking into it. I'll let you know whenever I find something. Just be careful and let me know if Meiling comes to you with something else."

_Sakura sighed. "I will."_

Eriol hung up the phone and sighed. Until they figured out exactly what Tsubame wanted and how she could get it, there was nothing anyone could do. He got up and went to search through his library again, this time not focusing on any particular section or hunch, because he really had no clue. He stopped halfway down the isle of one of the shelves, something compelling him to do so. He ran his hand along the shelf and stopped in front of what he thought was a random book. Eriol took it out anyway, looking at the front cover.

"_The Sorcerer Gods_?" he asked himself as he read the title and glanced at the cover of a red sky with light shining through the clouds and people bowing under it.

Eriol had half the mind to put it back. In fact, he almost laughed. The gods were just mortal's way of explaining phenomena they didn't know how. There wasn't much truth to them, if any.

Eriol started to put it up and then sighed. What would it hurt to read the thing? He had already looked through everything else he thought might help. He wouldn't be wasting any more time than he already had.

* * *

Sakura bit her lip a little as she stared down at her homework page, but she wasn't thinking about the homework, only about her conversation with Eriol the previous night. It was something, because he usually knew a lot more about things than she did. But when Eriol was stumped, it was something to worry about. The Immortal Queen Tsubame... She was a puzzle. That was for sure. For weeks Sakura hadn't seen nor heard anything about the woman and then all of a sudden, Syaoran came up married. To make such an open declaration to take over the planet, then not openly act on it, and then suddenly do something that was so obvious was weird. Therefore, there was just no way Tsubame could have something to do with this. Then again, Tsubame seemed to have a weird contradicting vibe based on the one time Sakura had met her. Still when she found the time, she'd have to call Syaoran to see what was going on.

"It can't be that hard."

Sakura looked up to see Naoki had come back into the room with a soda for her and a cup of coffee for him.

"What do you mean?"

Naoki nodded to her homework as he put the soda next to her on the coffee table.

"You're looking at your homework like its rocket science or something is all. Is it really that hard? Or is it math?"

Sakura blinked as she looked down, not quite sure what she was doing. She had been so lost in her thoughts she wasn't paying much attention to it.

"It's nothing," she said to him. "I was just thinking."

"Too much if you ask me," Naoki said coming around to sit next to her and then pulling her to him by the waist.

"Naoki!" Sakura said laughing as he did so. "My homework!"

"It's not due for a month," Naoki said burying his face in her neck.

"I know that, but I'm trying to get started on it early."

"You seem more like the type to procrastinate school work."

"I am," Sakura admitted. "But I'm trying to change that."

"Are you really? Or are you just trying to avoid that guardian of yours?" Naoki asked.

Sakura cringed. Caught. To say the least, she and Yue were going through one of those rocky periods in their relationships, but this time was different. Before the tension between them was just the result of Sakura getting a little too close to the fine line between their close friendship and something else. But this time was different. By dating Naoki, she was forcing Yue closer to that fine line, to come to terms with what their relationship was, if it could be defined. To be honest, the prospect terrified her. She wasn't sure exactly what it was she felt for her moon guardian, but neither was she certain where her relationship with Naoki was going either.

"How did you know?"

Naoki shrugged. "The way you say his name has changed. What's the problem?"

Sakura bit her lip, not sure how to answer and then said, "He's not too happy about me dating you."

"Jealous?"

"Yes," Sakura grumbled before she could stop herself and then added quickly, "I mean, that I'm spending so much time with you is all."

Naoki laughed. "I know what you meant… Unless I have something to be worried about of course?"

Sakura gasped, shaking her head. "No. Of course not… You're not worried are you?"

Naoki laughed at her, the tickle of his breath on her neck causing her to become a little uncomfortable, a weird feeling settling in her stomach.

"It's so fun to get you all riled up," he said kissing her cheek. "Relax. I'm just teasing."

Sakura huffed, trying to keep down the blush that was forming on her cheeks.

"You're so mean."

"You're so beautiful."

Sakura imagined she was going to be permanently red at the rate Naoki was going.

"Stop being so shy. I want to see your face."

Sakura couldn't help the shy part, but did turn to look at him. As soon as she did, his lips found hers. She maneuvered herself better so that she was on her knees and didn't have to awkwardly crane her neck to kiss him. Naoki pulled her into his lap, and as he did so, he licked her lips, gently compelling her to open her mouth so that his tongue could explore it. His tongue played with a spot near the back of her mouth that caused Sakura to let a moan escaped her, a nice tingling feeling beginning to spread through her body. He began to run his hand up and down her back while her hand tangled in his hair.

Her kisses with Naoki weren't like her previous boyfriends or dates. This kind of passion hadn't been present, this needy longing, hadn't been present, this fire burning in her lower regions…

She pulled away, not because she wanted to stop, but because she was out of breath.

"Let's go on a vacation, just me and you."

Sakura blinked. Naoki could be so spontaneous sometimes. "When?"

"Right now."

"Now!" Sakura said. "Naoki! I can't just up and leave."

"It's not like we'll be leaving the country or something, just to the beach, in a beachside hotel or inn for a few days. Not like you have to be at school."

Sakura flushed at the implication. "Just the two of us?"

Naoki kissed her again. "It's just to relax. I'm not trying to get you alone so I can have my way with you. No pressure."

Sakura had to keep herself from rolling her eyes. No pressure. Sure… Not that Naoki ever pressured her for anything, maybe got a little too touchy every now and then, but nothing else. No, the pressure was coming from herself. Something about being with Naoki unlocked something in her, another side of her, a side of her that didn't mind when Naoki just almost crossed the invisible line she had drawn in regards to their physical relationship, a side more primal in nature and a side that Sakura wasn't sure was herself sometimes. Sometimes it embarrassed her; that she was beginning to want Naoki in a way that wasn't so innocent. But more than anything, it scared the heck out of her.

"So?" he asked. "What do you say?"

Sakura grinned, setting her worries aside. "We'll have to stop by my house first."

"No we don't."

"Why not?"

Naoki gestured for her to stand up. Sakura did so and then Naoki did the same and led her to the back where the rooms were.

"Misa's about your size. You can use her stuff," Naoki said opening the door to the woman's room.

Sakura hesitantly followed him inside. It was relatively neat, the light from outside shining inside of it from the large window on the opposite side of the room that led out to a balcony.

"You sure she won't mind?"

Naoki shrugged. "That girl has all kind of stuff in here that she hasn't even opened or worn. She just likes to shop for the heck of it. She probably wouldn't notice anything was missing. Besides, not like she'll be back any time soon."

"Misa's still in China?"

"She met someone over there and doesn't want to leave yet."

Sakura nodded in understanding as she went to the closet. It was one of those large walk in closets with a lot of space and not a space was left unfilled. She slowly began to look through the hangers, surprised to see Naoki was right. She thought he had been exaggerating, but there were still tags on many of the items. In fact, maybe half the stuff hadn't been worn.

She took a few beach outfits and casual wear, draping them over her arm before looking at the swim suits. Sakura blushed at how skimpy some of them were. Goodness! Didn't Misa have anything a little more conservative? She took one of the less skimpy out, a blue two piece with off shoulder sleeve top and boy short bottoms. She bit her lip. It was better than the rest, but still bolder than what she was used to.

Sakura started to put it back, deciding that she could buy a swim suit or two on the way.

"Don't put it back. I like that one."

Sakura blushed. She hadn't been aware Naoki was watching her.

"No way! I…"

Why was he so good at making her feel all flustered and buttery?

He came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. He pressed a kiss on her cheek.

"Why are you so shy? I think you're beautiful."

Sakura blushed, but relaxed in his embrace regardless, allowing him to kiss her neck. Her grip on the clothing loosened as she leaned into his embrace. A moan escaped her as he licked certain spots.

She had dropped the clothing by then and when he stopped kissing her neck, she turned around to capture his lips again. He sucked on her top lip, teasing the entrance of her mouth. She parted her lips, and he thrust his tongue in her mouth, teasing her own tongue at first and then exploring the rest of her mouth. Sakura moaned all thoughts of packing forgotten. What was the rush anyway? They could always leave tomorrow. He pulled them both down, so that Sakura lay on her back on the soft carpet and he lie on top of her. Something inside her stirred, a feeling she had never felt before. Why did she feel like she wanted to do more than just kissing?

Naoki's hands ran over her stomach, only beginning to increase the heat she was beginning to feel.

Another moan escaped her, this time louder, despite her attempts to stop it. She felt like her body was beginning to act of its own accord.

"Naoki," she whispered between a kiss.

He silenced her with another kiss and then his hand went higher until it rested just under her breast. Then he grabbed it, not hard, but only squeezed on it through her shirt gently.

Sakura gasped, not only out of the pleasurable sensation she was feeling, but out of realization of what they were doing and where this might end up. As much as she liked it, anticipated the way it might feel, she wasn't sure she was ready for it.

So she pushed Naoki away, part of her disappointed at the loss of contact, but conflicting that was relief.

"Sakura."

"Sorry," Sakura said sitting up hastily and getting on her knees to grab the clothing she had dropped in order to hide her embarrassment. "I just… I've never."

"What are you apologizing for?"

Sakura looked at Naoki surprised. He was sitting close to her, watching her grab the clothing, not looking at all angry or even annoyed like she thought he may.

"Hoe?"

Naoki chuckled a little and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

"I'm the one who should be apologizing. Did I scare you?"

Sakura blushed a little replying, "Yes and no…"

Naoki stood up and then helped her stand.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."

"I understand," Sakura said softly. "I mean…"

She trailed off, not quite sure how to put into words what she wanted to say.

"Forget about it," Naoki said and then added as he began to pulled her out the closet. "Come on. Let's finish packing."

* * *

One of the perks of having the name Li attached to her name was that now she had the right to force other people in the magic community to listen to her, including the Reed Family, even if they weren't aware she had the name. It was easy enough to get to them. Married or not, Tsubame was still living under the guise of a famous international model, which meant she could go wherever this job took her and it just so happened that it took her to New York. Of course, the Reed family was clustered all over the United States, but mainly in New York, Atlanta, and California. It was strategic really. They could stop most magical intruders before they entered the country in New York and California because of their proximity to the borders and Atlanta had the busiest airport in the world. Many powerful people went through that city. But it wasn't difficult for Tsubame to suppress her magical aura, as if they could stop her from entering the country even if she couldn't.

It did however explain why Jonathon Reed was so shocked when she appeared before him inside his presidential suite in her gold and fuchsia kimono and white face paint; hair wrapped up into an elegant bun at the back of her head and in her hands was a tray with a teapot and a cup. She obviously wasn't a servant or one of his assistants. And Tsubame was sure none of them dressed like Japanese royalty.

"How did you get in here?"

Tsubame laughed. "It wasn't hard. I have a way of persuading people."

Tsubame sat the tray down in front of him at his desk. She then picked up the pot and poured him a cup of coffee before pouring herself a cup. She then sat in a chair that Jonathon was positive wasn't there before.

"You like your coffee black, don't you?" she asked and then giggled, two sugars dropping into her cup out of thin air and the black liquid turning murky brown as a result of the cream. Jonathon looked surprised, which was the point of the display of magic. If he didn't know she was a powerful sorceress from her purposefully obvious powerful aura before, he knew it now.

"Who are you?"

"I go by quite a few names, depending on the person. But the one I prefer is Tsubame. There's no need to introduce yourself in kind. I know who you are Jonathan Reed."

He was trying to size her up, but Tsubame wasn't worried. It wouldn't work on her. She already knew everything she needed to know about him. He was young for a family leader, just like the Li Clan head, but certainly older than Syoaran was at the age of thirty or so. Tsubame almost laughed. She was centuries ahead of them with a few more to go. The arrogance of these two clans would be their downfall.

"What do you want?"

"The same thing the Reed family wants," Tsubame said taking a sip of her coffee. "The downfall of the Li Clan."

She enjoyed his reaction. There was surprise, shock, and restrained curiosity, exactly what she had anticipated. And also according to what she anticipated, he immediately tried to defend them.

"The Li's are out greatest allies. Why would our family want them to fall?"

"Because they're more powerful than you are, and you owe them. Big time. How many times have they used their connections to bail your family out of trouble? If it weren't for the Li's, the Reed family's money, wealth and name would have died out decades ago."

Jonathon was probably wondering how Tsubame knew so much. But to be honest, she didn't know much of anything at all. It was a bunch of assumptions really, based on the fact that the livelihood of the Reed Family was tied to a lot of investments in corporations, which only meant that based on the downward spiral of the American Economy the Reed's were on shaky grounds. It was only natural to assume that the Li Clan helped bail them out every now and then, based on the ties linked by a man who had died centuries ago.

"Don't you all hate it? Being in debt to them?" Tsubame asked playing on the greed she knew ran in the family. There was no gratitude for them. Debt was only a chain that made them play nice. "They control you. At any time they need you all they have to do is yank your chain and you come running. They rule you. They have power over. I can help you change that."

"You want us to betray or own family?"

Tsubame laughed. "Family? Your only tie is a powerful sorcerer who at the end of the day tossed you both to the side to pass down his most powerful magic to a little girl who wants to be normal. It's not betrayal. I call it simply turning the tides."

"And what do you get out of this? What do you want?"

"Prestige, power, connections, not in that order," Tsubame said. Of course it was the connections that counted with the Reed family. They were a nosy bunch and had the knowledge of a lot of things where it counted which was probably the only thing they had going for them nowadays. But none of that was what she wanted. The conversation itself would be enough.

"What do you propose?"

Tsubame grinned. "Kill their clan leader. Power is passed down from male to male and Li Syaoran is the last male heir to the clan."

"We'd have better luck trying to find a needle in a thousand haystacks."

Tsubame smiled. "I have close ties to the family. I'll do the dirty work for you if you can get me what I want."

"And what's that?"

"I'm sure we can come to some type of agreement, that somehow you can get me into some high seat or place," Tsubame said vaguely, but it was just enough to seal the deal. If she had been on the other end of this deal, she would have never gone for it. She'd never go into a deal with someone without knowing what the other party wanted, not to mention where they were calling all the shots. It was a win-win situation for her.

"We'll discuss it… after you come through with your end of the deal."

Tsubame smiled. The Reed's were a manipulative bunch, and not in a smart way, but all to cater to their greed. She planned to take advantage of it.

* * *

**AN:** I remember when I first decided to rate this story M because of the romantic subplot, I was not going to have sexual situations for the sake of having them there or rather I didn't want to go for put piece a in slot b type romance. So as I wrote this I was really trying to get across Sakura's emotions as I wrote this piece and as a result these type of chapters received so many rewrites and rereading. I also took a lot of creative assumptions with the last part, which I found wickedly fun to write.:)

Hope you enjoyed! And **Review Please** if you enjoyed the chapter or even if you didn't, for ff. net has made it so easy to simply put your arrow right in that big box that follows and type a quick review. I do appreciate the comments.


	8. The Sorcerer Gods

**Chapter Eight  
The Sorcerer Gods  
**

"Yue! Kero! Are you in here?"

Tomoyo slipped off her shoes and closed the front door behind her. She went upstairs first, finding Kero in Sakura's room asleep on her bed. Giggling she went over and gently prodded him with a finger.

"Kero!" she sang.

He grumbled, swatting her finger away and causing her to laugh. She prodded him again and this time, he groaned before asking, "What do you want?"

Tomoyo composed herself again and said, "Nothing really. Sakura just told me to come check on you and Yue to make sure you two didn't wreck the house fighting or something."

Kero huffed and rolled his eyes. "That's something you don't have to worry about. Yue's no fun to mess with when he's sulking. So can I go back to sleep now?"

"Sulking?" Tomoyo asked. "About what?"

"Ask him yourself. I think he's outside, hopefully not sleep. You'll have better luck waking the dead," Kero said to her.

"Well then come on. Let's go see what's wrong," Tomoyo said grabbing Kero and pulling him out the room with her.

"Wait a minute!" Kero said. "What makes you think I want to go bother him?"

"Well I can't talk to Yue by myself. You know how he is," Tomoyo said as she dragged Kero downstairs and through the living room to the back door.

"But Sakura only told you to check on the house. It's still standing, why do you have to-"

"Yue," Tomoyo said, ignoring Kero's protests.

Yue didn't move a muscle from where he was leaning against the tree, eyes closed, arms folded under his chest, appearing to be sleep.

Tomoyo blinked. "Oh… Is he asleep?"

Kero rolled his eyes. "He's not sleep. Just trying to ignore you."

"How can you tell? He looks sleep to me."

"If he were asleep, his arms wouldn't be folded and he'd have an arm draped over his knee," Kero replied.

"Really? How do you know?"

"He's been doing it since we were created. It's just something that hasn't changed about him," Kero said and then flew up to Yue. "Stop ignoring her. The sooner you answer her, the sooner she'll leave."

Yue didn't say anything. He didn't even move, and Tomoyo began to wonder if Kero was mistaken and Yue really as asleep.

"What?"

Tomoyo jumped a little, not only because she had been surprised that he spoke, but because of his tone. She didn't detect the annoyed patience that was usually in his tone when he addressed her, nor was he wasting time trying to be polite by saying her name so that she at least knew he was talking to her. Kero was right. Yue did sound like he was in a bad mood.

"Um… Sakura… She sent me over to make sure things were alright is all, and Kero said you were in a bad mood so…"

Yue sighed in irritation, standing up from where he had been sitting. As he started back into the house he said, "The house is still standing and in relatively the same condition it was in before she left. My mood hardly has anything to do with it."

Tomoyo scowled. She would tolerate Yue's aloof nature, and she'd also tolerate his annoyed patience with her. But she would not tolerate Yue taking out his anger on her because he was in a bad mood. So she went to stand in front Yue, blocking him from getting into the house.

"Being in a bad mood does not give you the right to be mean," Tomoyo said crossing her arms. "Now you can sit there in a bad mood or we can have tea and talk about why you're in a bad mood."

Yue raised an eyebrow at her. Tomoyo wasn't sure what to make of it. He looked like he may have been amused, but there was also that haughty nature, that he couldn't believe she was daring to stop him.

He only sighed and didn't reply, starting to walk past her. Tomoyo followed. She would not let this go.

"Yue. Hold on a minute! Yue!" Tomoyo said following the moon guardian upstairs to his room, a place she normally never dared to step foot in, but this time she didn't care.

"Why are you being so persistent?" Yue snapped.

Tomoyo bit her lip. It was even harder to find her voice around Yue when he was in one of these moods.

Finally she said, "Because Sakura wouldn't want you to be like this, and I don't want her to be worried if I call and tell her that something's wrong with you."

It didn't have the effect she was going for. Instead Yue rolled his eyes, mumbling something under his breath, before deciding not to answer her. But it was enough. Tomoyo put two and two together and then said, "It has something to do with Sakura."

Yue didn't answer, but it was Kero who answered, "The two them have had a very complex relationship for a while. To say the least, Yue is jealous."

"Please," Yue muttered.

But Tomoyo gasped. She couldn't believe it. How had this gone under her radar for so long? How did she not know? She had to admit, the chemistry was there, in fact having Yue and Sakura in the same room with a bunch of people was a rather entertaining discourse. She remembered the first time she had ever witnessed it, after Sakura had started to get over her childish intimidation of Yue. If Tomoyo recalled, Yue had to have said something rude to someone and Sakura rolled her eyes dryly reprimanding Yue with a "For goodness sake Yue, would it kill you to be nice?" It surprised everyone in the room at the time, for Sakura was never one to comment on Yue's lack of caring for other people's feelings. And if Yue had been surprised, whatever scathing comment he had come back at Sakura with covered it well. Tomoyo found it funny. Whether the two were aware of it or not, they bickered like a married couple at times, which was why Tomoyo felt so stupid.

"Wait a minute," Tomoyo said blinking at Kero. "You mean to tell me Yue is in love with Sakura?"

"More or less," Kero said. "And vise verse."

"Then why," Tomoyo looked back at Yue. "Wait a minute! Do you mean to say the two of you like each other? Wow… That makes so much sense now… Then wait a minute why is Sakura with Naoki?"

"Because Sakura and Yue are both stubborn, scared idiots. That's what," Kero muttered.

"I'm standing right here," Yue said as though he could care less that they were talking about him.

"Well, aren't you going to do something?" Tomoyo asked going to sit next to Yue at the window.

"She apparently likes Naoki a lot. What is there to do… if I wanted to do anything?"

He was trying to act like he could care less, but Tomoyo knew that tone. There was the undertone of desperation. Yue had to be giving that he was actually talking to her, hadn't thrown her out his room yet.

"Well, if you know Sakura, then you know that she doesn't just throw away her feelings like that. If she had any, they're still there."

"Apparently," Yue muttered in obvious sarcasm.

Tomoyo waved her hand dismissively. "Sakura's just trying to fill a void. Girls do it all the time. I'm sure she's just as conflicted as you are. You should tell her when she comes back from her vacation. She'll probably be surprised. She might even initially reject you, but she'll come around if she still cares about you as much as Kero says she does."

Kero snorted. There was no question about how Sakura felt and quite honestly, there was no question for Yue either. The sexual tension that sometimes charged the house was almost tangible. It sometimes drove Kero as crazy as it did them. The problem was that Yue had a lot of baggage and Sakura wasn't aggressive enough to force him to talk about, nor did he think she would really know how to handle it being as young and innocent as she was. He wished it weren't so, but he had a feeling this was all going to go downhill before the situation finally resolved itself.

If Yue had a response, they didn't get to hear it, for the phone rang at that moment. Kero answered it since Yue hated using the phone.

"_Where's Sakura?"_

"Eriol?" Kero asked.

"_Hello Kero," _Eriol said. _"Is Sakura there?"_

"No. On vacation with her boyfriend. What's up?"

Eriol cursed on the other end, sighing as he said, _"When will she be back?"_

"I don't know. In a few days. Where are you?"

"_On my way over."_

"You're on your way to Japan!" Kero said. This got both Yue and Tomoyo's attention.

"_No. I'm already in Japan. I took the next flight. I'm on my way to the house."_

"Say what?"

"_Trust me when I say this is important."_

With that, Kero was left listening to the dial tone, trying to comprehend what had just happened.

"Kero, was that Eriol?"

Kero nodded, putting the phone back on the receiver.

"What did he want?" Yue asked.

"He's on his way here."

* * *

Sakura sighed. She should have done this before they left, but Misa had so many swimsuits that in the end, Sakura picked the ten she liked best and took them with her and she still couldn't choose between them. She sighed as she looked at herself in the mirror with one of the said bikinis. It was dark pink and the top was halter style. She liked it, but she also really wanted to wear that white one with the off shoulder sleeves.

"Ugh. Only I could make choosing a bikini difficult," Sakura muttered.

"If it helps, I like that one," Naoki said from where he was standing, having just come out the bathroom. His shirt was open, Sakura observed. She was so distracted by this fact, or rather his exposed chest underneath, that she almost didn't catch his next comment. "It has a nice view."

She almost dismissed the comment, not particularly caring what he meant by it. But after a moment, it dawned on her what he was talking about. Sure enough, the top accentuated her breast, making for what Naoki had just called a "nice view." She looked at him, expression somewhere between mortified and pleased, and then frustrated as he tried not to laugh at her.

"I think I'll change into the other one just for that," Sakura muttered going to grab the one with the less eye popping view.

He grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him before she could grab it.

"Let go," she said trying to be serious, but failing when she laughed.

"Don't try to act like that. I was just playing."

"No you weren't."

"You caught me. I wasn't," Naoki admitted in her ear. "So what?"

Sakura felt her entire body heat up and the fact that she was in her bikini didn't help matters.

"Naoki…"

He pulled her in for kiss then, rather roughly, and causing Sakura to have to grip his arms to steady her. He pulled away slightly, opting for small pecks to her lips before taking one of her lips between his and sucking on it gently before letting go and pressing his lips against hers again. Maybe it was because she was only in her bikini, but this kiss was accompanied by a new sensation, one Sakura wasn't accustomed to. It was normal for her to feel nice, tingly all over when Naoki kissed her, but she was feeling something else, in her lower regions between her legs, and it was beginning to frustrate her.

In effort to relief it or at the very least forget about it, she pressed her lips harder against his, intensifying their lip lock. She fell when the back of her legs hit the bed, falling on her elbows to catch herself. It was at this point that the thought crossed her mind that she should probably remind Naoki and herself that they were supposed to be going out, that she should really stop this before it went a little too far, but Sakura found herself instead inviting him, by licking her swollen lips and not trying to move from how she had fallen. It again briefly crossed her mind again to stop this, but she found herself not caring.

Naoki climbed over her, kissing her again and Sakura fell all the way on her back. He was squeezing one of her breasts again, like before they left, but this time, she didn't push him away. This time, she wanted it and something more…

His phone rang and he sighed at the tune before reaching onto the nightstand to answer it.

"You manage to bother me at the most inopportune times. I really do hate you sometimes." Sakura heard Naoki say to whoever it was as he rolled over to lay on his back. Sakura was guessing it was Misa, and it certainly was inopportune, though in a way she was a little relieved. What in the world had gotten into her?

"Depends on what the favor is," Naoki said into the phone pausing as Misa replied on the other end. "You want me to do what? Misa, what part of I'm on vacation don't you get?"

Sakura heard the woman giggle through the phone. Naoki rolled his eyes.

"I suppose not… I'll get to it in a few days…" Naoki rolled his eyes. "Sure you do."

Naoki hung up the phone and sighed.

"Is Misa still in China?" Sakura asked.

"Yes and she needs me to do her a favor. I managed to convince her it could wait a few days," Naoki replied and then sighed, "Otherwise, I'd be headed to do it for her now."

Sakura paused looking at Naoki curiously for a moment.

"What?" he asked pulling her over to lie next to him.

Sakura shook her head. "Nothing, just… You really care about Misa don't you?"

Naoki laughed. "I like to try to convince myself that I don't, but yes." His face became solemn and serious. "People don't understand it, our relationship that is."

Sakura looked at him and said, "I don't see anything wrong with it."

"Maybe, but the way your guardian reacted is not the first time someone has."

"About what?"

"I'd do just about anything for Misa if she says the word. It's always been that way since she was fourteen, even during the times we couldn't stand each other. Can you live with that?"

Sakura frowned, not at what he said for she didn't mind. She didn't just expect him to stop watching out for Misa because she was with him. But why did that sound so familiar? Why did she understand what he meant, but on a deeper level than just surface? Why was it resonating with her?

"I understand," she finally said trying to push her questions out her mind. It was nothing alarming, just something to think about really.

Naoki looked at her, with a penetrating gaze that made Sakura seem to think he was trying to tell her something more than what he was actually saying. But what more could all this mean? What was he trying to say by telling her all of this?

"I know you do," he finally said. "I was just making sure."

* * *

Eriol hardly greeted them as he came into the house, pausing only to remove his shoes before heading into the living room, a large book under his arm.

"Eriol… What's going on?" Tomoyo asked as he breezed by her.

"I'd like to know the answer to that question," Nakuru said just getting in the doorway.

"You mean you don't know?" Kero asked.

Spinel flew in behind Nakuru and said, "All we know is that one moment Eriol is in the library and the next he's booking the next flight to Japan."

"It must be serious then," Kero said heading into the living where Eriol was and had placed a book down on the table.

"It is," Eriol said flipping through the book. "Remember I said I didn't think anything like what we're facing with Tsubame had happened before?"

"Yes," Kero said sitting in front of Eriol with his arms crossed.

"I was wrong," he said pointing to a page. "Look."

Yue, Kero, and Tomoyo looked at the page. Yue scoffed.

"The gods? They're just myths."

"I thought so too," Eriol said. "But it's not. These 'gods,' powerful sorcerers and sorceress from another world like Tsubame in all probability, came to take over and awed by their power, people worshipped them and we know them as the ancient gods."

"Are you telling me that's what Tsubame's trying to accomplish?" Kero asked. "How?"

"Well she's certainly less subtle than the gods were. But I think that's more out of necessity, not to mention she has freely admitted that her powers are diminished, though how much is questionable since the cards didn't work on her," Eriol replied.

"Necessity?"

"In an industrial and scientifically based world, not many people believe in magic. They'd call her delusional. So she has to go about it much more subtle way, a safer way, especially since her magic is diminished," Eriol explained. "So that girl Syoaran married…"

"You think she has something to do with Tsubame?"

"I doubt it. Kaho would kill me for saying this, but that sounds more like a coincidence than anything. What would Tsubame have to gain from marrying into the family? She's an outsider. It would be years before she could get anywhere that way, especially considering…

"What?" Kero asked though Yue seemed to have caught on.

"The gods had to defeat their predecessors, the Titans, to become gods," Yue said. "I'm trusting this to be symbolic?"

Eriol nodded. "Outwit would more so be the word. Saturn was tricked into eating a rock so he wouldn't destroy Zeus and Nut outwitted Ra by giving birth during five extra days of the year. In both cases we're looking at a passive permission type thing happening and that's what worries me…"

"What do you mean by that? What's that got to do with anything?" Kero asked.

"Someone, and I'm not sure who, can essentially give Tsubame permission to be here, permission to act on her will and give her back all her powers. And it doesn't have to be directly. Whoever this person is can do it without even knowing they did it and indirectly give Tsubame permission to take over so to speak. Of course it doesn't have to be one person. It could be a group of people and that's the part where everything gets complicated."

"That's ridiculous," Yue muttered. "There's hasn't been a magical monarchy since the Roman Empire."

"Which is why this stint is so bold. But Tsubame obviously knows something we don't. It's too much to assume without knowing what her real plan is. The point is that this is much more serious than a powerful sorceress with some ridiculous ambition. Tsubame knows what she's getting into, and she probably knows how to pull it off."

"So what now?" Kero asked.

"I talk to Sakura first and then we _try_ to decide on a course of action," Eriol determined.

* * *

**AN:** So while I'm writing chapters with vacations, I might as well inform the readers before I forget that that in a few weeks I'll be going on vacation. So on August 18th and 21st, I won't be updating. Now that that's out the way…

I remember being not quite sure what Tsubame's plan was or how she was going to pull it off and even though it went in this direction, I still have no clue which is why I kept holding off posting this because I didn't want to be struck with inspiration that didn't match up, but it worked out. And hey, I studied mythology at school for a whole semester, so I may as well put it to good use.

Hope you enjoyed! And **Review Please** if you enjoyed the chapter or even if you didn't, for ff. net has made it so easy to simply put your arrow right in that big box that follows and type a quick review. I do appreciate the comments.


	9. The Sorcerer Gods Part II

**Chapter Nine  
The Sorcerer Gods Part II  
**

"You want me to kill _Li Meling_?"

This was one hell of a way to come back from a vacation, playing assassin for Tsubame. The problem was he wasn't sure why she was giving him this target.

"Yeap."

"Why?"

"Because I promised Jonathon Reed that I would kill Li Syaoran," Tsubame replied with a smile. "You're going to miss your target."

Naoki tilted his head at her. This was the first time he had seen Tsubame in roughly two months. He had been surprised to see her sitting calmly in the living room, not dressed in her kimono and without the face make-up but still disguised as Misa since it was harder to hide her magical signature when she wasn't in disguise.

He scowled at her words and said, "I never miss a target."

"Exactly. That's why the timing has to be perfect so that it only appears that you missed your target. But that's easy enough for me to arrange," Tsubame said shrugging. "You just be listening out for my call. Now come sit here Naoki," Tsubame added patting the spot next to her.

Naoki did so and Tsubame scooted closer to him.

"I'm surprised," she said. "Are you so enthralled with that card mistress that you no longer desire my company?"

"I'm allowed to have a lover. You've certainly had your share," Naoki pointed out.

"Of course I have and of course you're allowed. It's just been a while since I actually had to be worried about actual competition, especially if she's able to keep you so enthralled without putting out any sexual favors… Yet you're so loyal to her, almost as loyal as you are to me."

"Is this your way of telling me you're jealous?" Naoki asked.

"Of course I'm not jealous. I'm just wondering how long you think this will last when your lover figures out who you really are," Tsubame said and Naoki was quite positive that if this had been a bench they were sitting on instead of a couch, Tsubame would have been swinging her legs back and forth.

Naoki shook his head. "Haven't thought that far to tell you the truth. Why? Don't tell me you actually disapprove," Naoki said in a way that could have been mistaken for teasing.

Tsubame looked at him for a moment and then stood up. "Do whatever. Tell her if you want. I don't really care so long as you don't let her get in the way."

"She won't."

Tsubame didn't answer, only said, "I'll call you when it's time."

* * *

Fate must hate her Sakura decided. She was back home replenished and happy as a result of her vacation, planning on spending the rest of the evening do nothing particularly important when Eriol came from the living room saying that he needed to talk to her. She had been surprised at first. When had Eriol gotten here? But he only said he'd explain later, plopped her down on the couch and proceeded to explain the truth behind the myths of the Egyptian and Greek gods, that Tsubame was just like them, from another world and desiring to rule theirs.

"But why are you telling me this. If that's the case, what can I do about it? I haven't seen Tsubame in almost three months. That's no help."

"That's true in a way, but if I were Tsubame, I'd be looking for a way to get the most powerful sorceress in this world on my side or at the very least out of my hair."

"So what are you saying?"

"Just be careful. Tsubame can be anyone. More than likely she's using a female disguise, though I wouldn't rule out a male one considering her powers."

"I would," Sakura replied.

Everyone in the room looked at her in wonder, but it was Spinel who asked, "Why do you say that?"

Sakura blushed twiddling her fingers a little as she said "Because Tsubame just seemed like the type of woman who takes a lot of pride in being a woman. Magic or not, I don't think she'd go through the trouble of looking like she did unless she really wanted people to notice the fact that she was a woman. So even if it would throw people off, I don't think she'd ever disguise herself as a man."

"That may be true, but uou still need to be careful of anyone who you think is suspicious or gives you a bad feeling," Eriol insisted.

"Suspicious how?"

"I can't really say," Eriol said quietly. "And that's what makes this so dangerous. I suppose all you can do is to make a note of anyone you just happened to meet around the time Tsubame showed her face."

"I meet a lot of people" Sakura pointed out. "That doesn't help."

Yue, who had been mostly silent and who Sakura wasn't even sure was paying attention considering he seemed distracted, looked at Sakura and asked pointedly, "Didn't you meet Naoki the day after you met Tsubame?"

"Yeah, but Tomoyo had been planning that thing for months. All the models on there had been to practice and rehearsals at least a few weeks ahead of time. There's no way she could have gotten herself in there so fast," said Sakura.

"You can't seriously be that naïve," Yue muttered in an exasperated tone.

Sakura snapped her head in Yue's direction, and Kero sighed. This was starting to get old.

"I'm not naïve!"

"You are if you think that's a good enough reason that your boyfriend had nothing to do with this. It's not that hard for anyone with the least bit of magic to confound a few people to give themselves an alibi. You should know that considering you've had to do it before," Yue pointed out.

Sakura flushed in anger and embarrassment; embarrassed because Yue had a point, and she honestly hadn't thought of it that way, but angry because he had to remind her so rudely. Either way, she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that she saw his point.

"So what? Besides, I'm positive that Tsubame is using a female guise."

"Last I checked, his friend Misa is a female."

"Tsubame didn't have anyone with her. She was by herself."

"You don't know that."

"Neither do you."

"Your silly crush on that guy is keeping you from seeing reason."

"It's not a silly crush! You're just jealous."

Eriol looked back and forth between the two, glancing at Nakuru, who was snickering, and Spinel who looked just as baffled as he was. So Eriol turned to look at Kero, who shook his head. This could potentially go on all day.

"Don't tell me you aren't even the least bit suspicious of him. Don't you sometimes wonder how he seems to just be able to know things about you?" Yue asked.

Sakura bit her lip. So maybe she did sometimes wonder about Naoki's intuitive nature, and sometimes the thought did cross her mind that maybe Naoki had some limited form of magic. In fact his aura always felt similar to a low-grade sorcerer. But Sakura would know for sure if he were dangerous to her, detect that he was using her. Her magic had never failed her in that respect before.

"Okay. Maybe," Sakura admitted. "But he doesn't seem like the minion type."

Yue rolled his eyes, muttering something about Sakura reading too much manga and watching too much television.

"Minion type?" Eriol asked looking amused and thankfully stopping Yue from asking himself.

"What I mean is he doesn't seem the follower type," Sakura corrected. "I mean, he doesn't seem like the type to be uncooperative but… Whatever. So maybe there is a possibility that he may have some magic, but I would know if he had anything to do with Tsubame. I've always had some clue before, haven't I?"

"Well there's a simple way to handle this," Kero said, for Sakura was looking at Yue now, and he doubted the his brother had anything nice to say. "Go ask him."

"Ask him?" everyone said looking at Kero.

"Sure. I mean Sakura's got to tell him sooner or later if she plans on making her relationship with him long term, so why not sooner?"

Sakura was silent. The thought had honestly never occurred to her to tell Naoki about her magic at anytime because honestly she hadn't really thought of a long term relationship with him. Sakura sighed. She wasn't in it for the sake of a fling, but she hadn't thought about being with Naoki beyond dating him. Would they really be together long enough for Sakura to have to even consider telling him at all?

"You okay Sakura?" Eriol asked snapping Sakura out her thoughts.

"Huh?" Sakura asked.

"You're kind of quiet over there. Is everything alright?"

"Yes. I just… Are you sure Kero?"

"Why not?" Kero said. "If anything, it'll give you a chance to figure out what his intentions are anyway. What do you think Yue?"

Yue was silent for a long time, arm crossed, glancing at Sakura and then everyone else before saying, "I'll go with her."

He stood up and looked at Sakura waiting expectantly for him to follow.

"Now?" Sakura asked.

"Why not?" Yue asked already in his false form and starting to leave.

Sakura stood up, scrambling after him and saying, "Wait Yue!"

As the left Eriol looked at Kero and said, "Do I want to know?"

Kero sighed, resting a paw on his forehead as he said in exasperation, "It's complicated."

* * *

Sakura hated these moments. She could feel it in the air again. That charged atmosphere that never failed to set them both off, so far to only get angry at each other about one thing or another. It all depended on what Yue said to her, if he said anything to her on the way to Naoki's apartment.

"You know, I can go by myself," Sakura suggested.

Yue just glanced at her and continued ahead of her. Sakura crossed her arms. There was no point trying to argue with him. So despite the still charged atmosphere, she didn't protest him walking her over and after a while, she forgot why she wanted to go by herself in the first place. She forgot how nice it felt to take a late night walk with Yue when she insisted on going somewhere in the middle of the night.

"We haven't done this in a while," she pointed out. "We used to do it all the time."

"Before Naoki came along."

Sakura didn't miss the tone in which Yue had spoken. In fact she suspected Yue intended for her to.

"Does it still bother you that much?"

"I just have a bad feeling about all this is all."

"I don't feel anything particularly good or bad about it. That's odd. Usually we don't feel too different about situations.

"That's true," Yue said simple, not elaborating any further.

Sakura bit her lip. "Then why…?"

Sakura trailed off, not because of Yue's silence, but because somewhere along the way, she had managed to entangle her hand in Yue's and either he hadn't noticed or he didn't mind… Uh-oh.

"There was a time you trusted my word without hesitation. What's so different about this?"

Sakura looked down at her feet as she reflected upon the words. He was right. There was a time when she would have believe him on his word, especially because when Yue decided to speak on a matter, he thought what his opinion or observation whatever it was, was important enough to say to begin with. What was different now? Nothing really. Yue was probably right about Naoki having magic. That was the reason they were headed to Naoki's house anyway, but if anything was different, it was the fact was that this was about a lot more than just a potential threat. Emotions were involved in this, and for once Sakura couldn't trust that Yue was making this based on his cold analyzed logic. He denied it, but she got the feeling there was a little jealousy involved. That and…

"I'm not the little girl who needs you to tell me what to do and how to do it anymore. I'm glad you're concerned, but I can take care of myself sometimes."

Sakura smiled a little, trying to perhaps soften Yue up a little, but it failed to do so.

Instead he asked, "Which floor?"

Sakura looked up. Indeed they had arrived at Naoki's apartment building, and she was still holding Yue's hand. Gently, she let go of it figuring it would be a bad idea to show up holding Yue's hand when Naoki opened the door. She didn't answer his question, just went to the elevator and pressed the button for the appropriate floor.

She knocked on the door when they arrived prepared to wait a while since it was late, but was surprised when the door opened right away.

Naoki looked a little surprised at first and then said, "Miss me already? It's only been a few hours since I dropped you off."

Sakura blushed at the comment saying, "Something actually came up."

It was then that Naoki looked up at Yue and, Sakura wasn't quite sure, but something was exchanged between them and finally both nodded to each other.

"I was hoping you were still here, that you hadn't gone off to do whatever for Misa," Sakura said as Naoki let them both in.

"She doesn't need me that soon. Just on standby you could say," Naoki said. "So what brings you here so late? Not that I mind, but this is unusual for you."

"I just needed to ask you something," Sakura said as she sat down on the sofa in the living room, but seeing Yue wasn't sitting Naoki gestured for him to do so.

"I'll stand," Yue said simply.

"Don't mind him. He likes to look intimidating," Sakura replied giggling and ignoring the sharp look Yue sent her way.

Naoki looked at them with a raised eyebrow, but said nothing, only shaking his head as he went to get some tea.

"You don't have to," Sakura said.

"It's okay. You look like you need it. Besides, I was preparing myself some before you came," Naoki replied pouring three cups of tea and then reaching into a pantry to grab a bag of gourmet cookies.

"Misa left these when she went to China," he said referring to the unopened cookies. "I don't really like them, but I figure you might."

He sat the tray in front of them.

"Now what's this about?"

"A lot… Not all of it concerning you. Just…"

"Yes?"

Sakura had tried to rehearse how she would say it to him earlier, but she had been distracted talking to Yue on the way. She knew she didn't want to make it obvious though. She would see how he reacted, if he could figure out where she was going. Then if she got the vibe that he had no clue what she was talking about or that she may be wrong, she could play the whole thing off. But suddenly she found herself unsure.

"It's really stupid but-"

"We suspect you may be a sorcerer."

"Pardon?"

"Yue!"

Sakura sighed. There were times when Yue could be so poetic and careful with words, easily putting a person into a false sense of security and subtly getting exactly what he wanted out of them without the use of force and without them knowing they had told him exactly what he wanted to know. Sakura should know. He always used it on her, and she suspected he found it amusing. Then, other times, he was like this.

"I figured if worse comes to worst you can use Erase."

"That's meddling with people's memories."

"Don't act like you haven't used your magic for something like this before."

"Not on family and close friends!"

Both stopped when they heard Naoki laughing at them.

"What?" Sakura asked confused, while Yue asked out of irritation.

"Has anyone ever recorded the two of you and let you watch yourselves? Watching you two is quite entertaining."

Sakura made a mental note to ask Tomoyo later.

"Misa would be having a field day if she were here. She's always been the teasing type," Naoki said and then slyly remarked, "I am depending on how amusing I find a situation, but alas I don't find it too appealing to tease my girlfriend on her questionable relationship with her guardian."

Sakura blushed, partly out of embarrassment and partly out of guilt that it was Naoki who had pointed it out.

"Now back to Yue's question..." Naoki began.

"It was really stupid, just a joke…"

"I was wondering when you'd figure it out."

Sakura's blush and stuttered excuses went away while Yue's bored expression became something of intrigue.

"Wait… Figure it out?" Sakura asked.

"You knew who she was from the beginning then," Yue asked.

"Who she was? No. What she was? Yes. It's pretty obvious. Her aura's so vibrant even a baby could have told you she was a sorceress."

Sakura could practically sense Yue's sarcastic comment before he spoke it.

She wasn't disappointed for Yue said dryly, "You knew she was a sorceress, but didn't know who she was? Somehow, I find that incredibly hard to believe."

"Stop being so rude."

"It's alright Sakura. You'll have to forgive the fact that until now our family rather stay on the outer fringes of magical society. Most run of the mill magicians don't know your name, just the rumor of a little girl who holds the most powerful magic in the world," Naoki said and then added, "Of course she's not so little anymore."

If Yue felt guilty for accusing Naoki, he didn't show it and only continued to glare at Naoki.

"If you must know, it wasn't until Misa told me that I was aware of it. Of the two of us, she's the nosier."

Sakura was at a loss for words, but Yue didn't seem to be effected and said, "So Misa…"

"We're come from the same family, not one that anyone would know or care about right now mind you. So I guess you could say we're somewhat related," Naoki said.

Sakura finally got a hold of herself, getting over her initial shock and saying, "So you knew from the beginning that I was a sorceress? Is that why... why you...?"

"If I were interested in just your magic, haven't I had ample opportunity to take it or do what I please?"

He had a point, Sakura thought, but Yue obviously still didn't buy it.

"Then what other reason is there?"

Naoki smirked, while looking at Sakura. Then he said, "For exactly what I told her the day we met. I thought she was cute."

Sakura blushed. Yue rolled his eyes.

"Can the two of you flirt after I leave?"

"Sakura's right. You are grumpy," Naoki said smiling a little as he glanced at Yue.

Sakura giggled, but seeing that Yue was indeed getting impatient, Sakura decided it was time to leave, despite Naoki's insistence that she stay. He gave her a peck on the cheek before they left and Sakura was aware that he watched them go to the elevator before closing the door behind them. The ride down was quiet, more so because Sakura was waiting expectantly for Yue to say something.

Finally he said, "If you must know, I don't like this."

"So you think he's lying."

"Just because a person's not lying doesn't mean they're telling the truth either," Yue said.

Sakura huffed. So difficult… "Guilty until proven innocent?"

"If I thought that I'd be telling you to break up with him."

"Then what are you telling me Yue?"

Yue stopped outside the door to Naoki's apartment to look at her, smiling a little as he moved one of her stray bangs out her face.

"The same thing I'm always telling you." He kissed her forehead. "Be careful."

* * *

**AN:** I'm updating late but that was because this chapter went through a total revamp, but it flowed so nicely and actually was a nice breath of fresh air compared to what I'm writing for the end of this story. But because I just suddenly revamped it, you'll have to excuse any typos or whatever. I didn't have a lot of time to edit. Anyway, it's up now.

I also have to say I am surprised at how much hate Naoki has gotten in the reviews. Lol. But hey, I warned everyone this wasn't going to be a straightforward romance. Rest assured though my fellow Yue/Sakura fans, we'll get there in the end. Thank for all the reviews by the way. They really do give me a tickle and keep me going.

Hope you enjoyed! And **Review Please** if you enjoyed the chapter or even if you didn't, for ff. net has made it so easy to simply put your arrow right in that big box that follows and type a quick review. I do appreciate the comments.


	10. Sexual Frustrations

**Chapter Ten  
****Sexual Frustrations**

"Why do you shun your magic?"

It was the first question Naoki had asked about her magic and nothing had changed between them because of it. However Naoki knowing made her feel lighter. Sakura didn't know how much hiding her magic from people affected her. She had thought about it before a few days ago; how if she ever got around to getting married or in a serious long term relationship, how would she tell her future partner about her magic. It was only something she tossed about in her head every now and then, but it had really been coming to the forefront of her mind lately.

She had been saved the trouble of trying to explain anything by this new predicament, but what if Naoki was a sorcerer? What if he had no clue about magic? How would have ever handled it then? After pondering that thought, it made Sakura realize that besides the circle of friends that knew around the time she was capturing and changing the cards, no one else knew. Regardless of her ponderings though, Naoki hadn't asked about her magic in the last few days. It just was and force once, Sakura was glad it wasn't playing as a factor. Therefore, his question did surprise her a bit.

"Shun it?" Sakura said rolling over on the grass to face Naoki.

His eyes were closed, his head leaning to the side, in her direction, shielded by the shade of the tree, while Sakura preferred the warmth of the evening summer sun.

"Besides your aura, I wouldn't know you were a sorceress. You just don't have the air of one and trust me I've had the pleasure and displeasure of meeting many," he added dryly.

Sakura giggled a little at his tone and then said, "Oh… I just use magic when I need it. I try not to in my daily life. Sometime it takes the reward out of doing things with my hands."

Naoki huffed a little. "What reward is there in washing dishes with your hands?"

Sakura laughed. Yue had asked her the same question at one time or another. "None I guess, but it makes me feel normal."

Naoki opened his eyes on that one. "Normal?"

Sakura nodded. Naoki frowned, turning on his side and propping his head on his hand. Then he laughed a little and said, "I think you would feel more normal if you embraced it more; your magic I mean."

"Embraced it more?" Sakura asked slowly.

Naoki nodded as he reached a hand over to play with a lock of stray hair that had gotten in her face.

"Magic is part of you. Trying to deny that part of you is what would make you not normal. So what you're different than everyone else? Isn't everyone?" As he continued to play with her hair, Naoki said, "You hair has gotten longer."

"I know," Sakura said taking the lock from him. "It's about time I get a haircut. I just haven't made the time since I got back."

"Don't cut it. I like it," Naoki said scooting closer to her. "It's more fun to play with."

Sakura nodded a bit absently, growing ever more aware of the closing distance between them. Lately it didn't take much for her to start to feel that heat, that odd tingling sensation she got whenever she was around Naoki. The more it grew, the more and more she was ready to toss her inhibitions and fears aside, but that brought in an entirely new fear. God it was so confusing. How could she want something so much, but be so apprehensive about it at the same time?

"So how would I embrace my magic more," she said in effort to distract herself. "Use it more?"

"Not really," Naoki said, thankfully stopping where he was in proximity to her. "Just stop trying so hard not to use it is all. Whenever you feel like you want to use it, use it. It'll make you feel better about yourself. You'll start to feel like you won't have to try so hard to be normal if you accept that you're not."

Sakura heard what he said and would probably reflect upon it later, but she had been more focused on watching his lips as he said it. She wanted them on her, not just on her own lips, but on other parts of her also. She wondered how it would feel to…

"Sakura. Are you alright? You look a bit flushed."

Sakura blinked out her thoughts, flushing more at being snapped out of what had been turning into a rather lewd daydream. It was getting hard to handle this anymore…

"Maybe you need to get out of the sun," he said grabbing her and flipping her around so that she was now under the shade of the tree, wrapped in his arms.

It only made her predicament worse, and unfortunately for her, Naoki seemed to catch on.

"Or maybe," he whispered, nipping her ear as he did so. "It's not the sun at all."

He started to kiss slowly down her neck, causing her to gasp in surprise. She wasn't quite used to the sensation. It felt odd at first, like an electric tickle if she had to describe it. But then she began to feel it, not only in her neck, but it was causing a warm, tingling sensation in her lower regions, the same feeling she had first experienced at the hotel when they were on vacation, before Misa interrupted them. She gasped again, this time in delight at the pleasurable sensation it sent through her.

"Ah," she gasped as Naoki continued down her neck, not only kissing, but sucking as he went down her neck and to her collarbone and then going back up the other side, planting kisses on her jaw line before capturing her lips.

Sakura hardly knew what to do with herself as she kissed him back, trying to control the burning hunger inside her, a hunger she might have given into if part of her weren't aware of the fact that they were in the middle of a park. Naoki seemed to realize that too and so pulled away from her, with one final kiss.

"It's getting late," he said lifting off of her and standing up.

As he brushed himself off, Sakura couldn't help but frown at the disappearance of the warmth that had just been coming off of him. She reached her hand up when he reached his own down to help her up.

"Come on," Naoki said sighing. "We better get you home before those guardians of yours get too worried."

* * *

"So, what is it that you need to talk about?" Tomoyo asked excitedly. "It's been so long since we just had a sleepover for girl talk all night since you've been so busy with Naoki. But don't worry. I'm not mad at you for it. I wish I could find a boyfriend."

Sakura blushed. "Actually, that's what I need to talk to you about."

Tomoyo grinned. "Do tell then."

Sakura didn't know where to start. She had called Tomoyo the night before intending to talk about it, before figuring out that this wasn't the kind of topic she could talk about over the phone, much less where Kero or God forbid Yue might hear her. So they decided to schedule a sleepover. They hadn't had the chance to do anything like this in a while anyway. But this was going to be awkward, at least for Sakura.

"Well… I don't know…"

"Everything's fine right?" Tomoyo pried.

"Oh yeah. Perfect actually. Naoki's great. I really like him and… well I think that might be part of the problem."

Tomoyo shook her head and smiled as she grabbed one of the mini sandwiches she had prepared for them off the platter.

"Okay Sakura. I can usually figure things out. But you're being really vague right now. Mind giving me more to work with?"

Sakura sighed. There was one sentence to sum all this up. She just had to get the nerve to say it. Okay, Sakura thought to herself as she tried to put on a straight face and control the blush that came to her face.

"I…" Sakura groaned. This was hard. She took a deep breath, deciding to just blurt it out. "I think I want to have sex with Naoki."

Tomoyo looked at her, seeming shocked for a moment before grinning and saying, "Oh my God. This really isn't something we could have talked about over the phone. We're going to be up later than I thought. We'll need more snacks."

"Tomoyo! I'm serious! I don't know what to do. I've never felt like this before. Sometimes it feels like it's all I think about when I'm with him, even if I'm not trying. You have to help me!"

"Well," Tomoyo began, still relatively calm about the entire situation. "At least you're aware of the problem, if we can call it a problem."

"You don't call being all… I don't know…"

"I can't believe it. Never did I think there would come a day when my innocent little Sakura of all people would come to me all hot and bothered."

Sakura sighed, becoming a little impatient with her best friend. She had been willing to suffer through Tomoyo's initial teasing, but this was getting ridiculous. She was serious.

"Fine. I think the real question is Sakura, are you sure that's what you want?"

"What I want?" Sakura asked.

"Well yeah. Sure you feel this way now, but do you think you're truly ready to take such a big step? You've got to take into account how you'll feel about it after the fact."

"After the fact?"

Tomoyo sighed knowingly. "Really Sakura, sex isn't as big of a deal as people make it out to be. The results sometimes, yes, but sex itself? People do it every day."

"Then if it is no big deal, what is the big deal?"

"That you're a virgin and you're only a virgin once Sakura. You can't take that back. I mean what if this relationship with you and Naoki doesn't work out? What if you end up breaking up? Will you regret that your first time was with him or have fond memories of it? Of course, that all depends on if the relationship ends on a good note or a sour one. But he's a good guy, so you don't have to worry about that."

"But what if I do decide… How do I go about telling him that?"

Tomoyo giggled and with a wink said, "You could just show up at his house in lingerie and that would get the point across pretty well I think."

"Tomoyo!"

Tomoyo laughed. "Just kidding, but don't worry about it so much Sakura. You have to remember that while this may be your first time, it's way more than likely not his. Trust me, by now, he knows how to read your cues. I mean he hasn't pressured you this far, has he?"

Sakura shook her head. He might take things just a tad too far every now and then, but he never pressured her. She was feeling the pressure from herself, coming from a certain new awareness of these odd feelings she was having in her body.

Sakura sighed. "This is so complicated."

"Of course it is. It always is the first time around. I went through the same thing. Lucky for you, you have me to talk to!"

"Yeah. I guess so… Wait a minute! When did you…?"

Tomoyo giggled, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks. "Not too long ago. I met someone about a year ago around the time I started preparing for my line's debut."

"What? And you didn't tell me!"

"I was busy. It must have slipped my mind. Besides, it doesn't matter. We're not involved anymore."

Sakura scowled. "You've been holding out on me."

"So have you. You're so secretive about your relationship with Naoki. But since you spilled some of the goods, I guess…" Tomoyo trailed off.

Sakura threw a pillow at her. "Stop kidding around. You had a relationship I didn't even know about. Now spill!"

"It wasn't that long really. Just a fling. But if you need to know, it was last spring…"

* * *

This was one of their good days… kind of. Kero was sleeping and since Sakura didn't really feel like sleeping, she had gone downstairs to watch something on TV. Yue was already down there, with a book on the couch. Usually she just left him alone, but he didn't seem to mind when she curled up on the other end of the couch, nor when she turned on the television. Eventually though, Sakura turned it off. Had there always been so many sexual implications in the shows she watched? She hadn't noticed it before. She held in a groan. She felt like a hormonal teenage boy or something. Never did Sakura think that she would ever be so sexually charged. It was agitating.

"You seem bothered about something?"

Normally she cherished the moments that Yue was concerned about her and that had been especially so lately when with this new development in her relationship with Naoki. But in her sexually agitated state, and with the tense atmosphere between them as it was, the atmosphere that usually meant one word could mean the difference between them being angry at each other or completely civil, the concern just served to agitate her more. Why did he hide it? Why wouldn't he just outright tell her how much he cared about her damn it?

"It's nothing," she managed instead of her internal tirade.

Yue smiled a little. "You've always been a bad liar."

"I don't think you really want to know Yue," Sakura said sighing shifting to lean her head on her hand, exposing her neck.

Yue started to go back to read his book, but then he stopped, looking over the top of his book again to stare at her.

"What?" she asked.

"What's that?"

"Where?" Sakura asked.

"On your neck," Yue said tersely.

Sakura touched her neck and then gasped a little. She had forgotten they were there in all honesty, three swollen red marks at the bottom of her neck from where Naoki had kissed and sucked her neck there. She hadn't been concerned about it when she saw it earlier. Most of her tops covered them. But she had forgotten how low cut her night gown was.

"Never mind," Yue said going back to his book having seemed to have figured it out on his own.

Sakura could tell though that Yue hadn't really gone back to reading his book. She sighed. She really hadn't meant for him to see those.

"Great," she muttered. "Now you're in a bad mood."

Yue scoffed. "I'm not. Who cares? What you do isn't any of my business."

"And that's what bothers you the most huh?" Sakura asked, her agitation causing her to push the matter when normally she would have let it be at Yue's comment. Yue didn't answer her, but that only further frustrated her so she continued on. "Why are you holding it back from me? If you're jealous, just admit it."

"Of what?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Don't act like it doesn't exist. We can hardly be in the same room anymore without the sexual frustration levels shooting through the roof."

It wasn't like her to be this open about such a sensitive topic, but Sakura's own pent up sexual frustration was getting to her. Had it always been like this when she and Yue were in the same room? And if it was, why hadn't she been aware of it before? Maybe she just hadn't been completely aware of what it was. This was worse than being around Naoki lately. At least there was no seemingly invisible wall stopping the two of them.

His reaction surprised her. She expected him to maybe leave the room in a huff, and they would be mad at each other for a while before getting over it. Instead he put his book on the coffee table, crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at her, while letting out what might have been a chuckle.

"And what do you know about sexual frustration?"

He was mocking her, and they both knew it. Sakura didn't appreciate it though.

"What do I know? I don't know. I only have an older boyfriend," she began in a sarcastic tone. "I'm not ten anymore."

Yue didn't say anything to her, but the slight twitch of his lips said it all. She growled a little, wanting nothing more than to wipe that smug expression off his face. That was one of her problems before. He treated her like a little girl, saw her like a little girl, and she wasn't that anymore. She'd prove it.

As Yue uncrossed his arms and reached across to get his book, Sakura got up on her hands and made her way across the couch to Yue, doing something she wished she had the guts to do months ago. Maybe she wouldn't be having this problem. She was sitting in his lap now, straddling it actually. She didn't do anything yet though, her nerves catching up with her, her brain starting to catch up to her actions. She started to talk herself out of it, started to just leave and save them both the awkwardness that would ensue between them if she went through with her daring pursuit of thought.

But then he raised his eyebrow at her, in that "so what?" way that had only been driving her insane lately instead of making her back off like Yue was intending it would.

With that, she steeled her nerves, set her inhibitions aside for the time being and closed the distance between them, pressing her lips against his. He tried to pull away at first, but Sakura didn't intend for him to go anywhere. He wasn't pushing her away this time. She had a point to prove, and Yue was going to let her prove it. He stopped trying to pull away from her after a while, kissing her back. This was supposed to be the end of it. She had now more than proven her point, but suddenly it wasn't about proving her point anymore. It was about want, lust, and need. Getting relief from all the pent up sexual tension that neither liked to admit was between them, at least until that night.

Sakura began to suck on his bottom lip, prompting him to open his own mouth and return her openmouthed kisses. She moaned as that delightful yet infuriating heat built up again, and Yue's wandering hands weren't helping matters. His hands were rubbing her thighs, but unlike where she might have been deterred and apprehensions returning like they usually did when Naoki's hands wandered, it was different with Yue. It didn't bother Sakura and why should it? She trusted these same hands to protect her when she needed to be, help pick her up when she had fallen, and comfort her when there was no one else around who figured out she needed to be. Sure she was _pretty sure_ she could trust Naoki in the same manner, but with Yue she just _knew_.

But then as he continued to caress her thighs his hand accidentally brushed against the most sensitive part of her, sending a literal fire through her veins and also serving to bring Sakura back to a state of awareness. She gasped and pulled away, succeeding in awkwardly falling off the sofa.

"Ouch," she muttered trying to gain her bearings and straighten herself out at the same time.

"Are you okay?"

Sakura nodded, taking the offered hand and standing herself up only to face Yue and remember exactly why she had fallen on the floor.

She snatched her hand back, he gaze falling to the ground, as her blood rushed to her cheeks.

"I… Oh shit," she muttered. It was a word she rarely used, but she couldn't find a less vulgar one to describe exactly how she felt about all this which was honestly totally confounded.

So she handled it the only way she could. Sakura fled the room. But that wouldn't help. She needed to get out the house, get some air. What in the world had possessed her to…? She stopped. First she needed to get out the house. So she slipped on her shoes and a jacket, made sure she had her star key around her neck and fled the house.

* * *

**AN:** So I had a lot of reviews asking for some lovely Yue/Sakura goodness. How's that for ya? I think this chapter speaks for itself and man was it fun to write and then re-read through. The part with Tomoyo and Sakura was inspired by a lot of things, but mainly a lot by something my cousin posted on facebook about sex and I was like, "Are you serious?" Anywho, that part was a lot of fun. This whole chapter was just fun.

One more thing, I decided that I will go ahead and update Saturday, but I definitely won't be on the 21st, because I'll be on a much needed vacation. But don't worry. The next chapter will be more than enough to hold you.

Hope you enjoyed (and I know most of you did)! And **Review Please** if you enjoyed the chapter or even if you didn't, for ff. net has made it so easy to simply put your arrow right in that big box that follows and type a quick review. I do appreciate the comments.


	11. Certainty

**Chapter Eleven  
Certainty  
**

Note to self, Sakura thought to herself. It is a bad idea to prove a point about one's sexual maturity when either (1) sexually frustrated, (2) the point trying to be made is with someone you happen to have a strong attraction to, or (3) (heaven forbid) both. That had gone… well it had gone exactly like she had planned and then some. It was the then some part that bothered her. She couldn't go back to the house. That was for sure. She would have to wait a while and not because of the awkwardness that would ensue. They were beyond awkward. If she went back home, no doubt Yue would be there. And if she went back, there was no doubt about it. She was going back to finish what she had started. Sakura was just glad he hadn't told her to wait or called her name even. She smiled a little to herself. He was probably too stupefied to do so, not that she had seen his expression for she had been too embarrassed to look at him.

But in any case, she couldn't go home. Tomoyo's house was too far so that meant…

"Naoki…" she muttered to herself. But how in the world could she face him after what she had done, how she had felt… Sakura wondered if that had really been her, so comfortable with essentially trying to seduce her moon guardian. No. Sakura shook her head. It was just a dare, so to speak, that she happened to take too far. It didn't mean anything, did it?

"Darn it," Sakura muttered as she absently made her way to Naoki's apartment. She took the pathway up to the apartment, pondering what this meant, eyebrows furrowed. It weighed so heavily on her mind that she didn't realize she had taken the elevator and rung the doorbell until she found herself standing face to face with Naoki.

"Are you going to be making a habit of showing up late on my doorstep, in your pajamas no less?" he asked.

Sakura blushed, realizing she had indeed left the house in her nightgown, and no bra she belatedly realized, but at the very least, she had the forethought to put on a light jacket to cover herself with. She really must have been out of it. Even in her worst mental states she at least put on something decent. "Sorry. It's just… I needed to get out the house."

Naoki raised an eyebrow. "Do I want to know?"

"It's complicated," Sakura replied almost mournfully as she started inside, but Naoki stopped her.

"Come with me. I know somewhere you can clear your mind."

"You don't have to bother," Sakura said.

"It's not a bother. We're only going upstairs," Naoki said closing the door behind him.

"Upstairs?"

Naoki nodded. "Misa actually owns the penthouse on the top floor. I don't particularly like it. It's too open for me, but you may like it."

She absently followed him to what must have been a private staircase judging by the fact that they had to use a key to open the door leading to it. She was momentarily distracted from her thoughts at the sight of the large floor to ceiling windows going up with the staircase.

"Wow… I didn't know this was here."

Naoki laughed a little at her wonder. "Wait until you see the veranda."

"Veranda?"

Naoki nodded, leading her through the simple yet, decorative living area that the steps led up to and to the glass screen doors that led up to the veranda. Sakura had seen them on televisions before and they all looked different. This one was circular, a glass dome-like structure encasing it, but not completely closing it in. It opened up to a balcony.

"Wow. I can see the city from here," Sakura said stepping out onto it and then looking down when she felt grass. She frowned. It wasn't grass. It was too soft. Some kind of outdoor carpet maybe?

"Misa's idea," Naoki said. "She wanted to be able to feel like she was really outside. Hence that grass or carpet really and the fountain."

"She has good tastes," Sakura said going to lean on the rail of the balcony.

"I thought you'd like it," Naoki said running a hand through her hair. "Want to tell me what's troubling you now?"

Sakura looked at him and then back at the view. "What makes you think that?"

"The fact that you appeared on my doorstep in your pajamas this late was a good indication. Makes me think you left the house in a hurry. Did something happen?"

Sakura found now as she reflected back on her earlier situation, the reason she had fled to begin with, the embarrassment had faded, leaving her feeling confused and guilty. She thought she had gotten over this.

"I just don't know anymore. Everything is so confusing," Sakura said letting her head fall in her hands.

"Something tells me this has something to do with your moon guardian," Naoki said in a tone that might have been exasperation. But Sakura someone got the feeling it wasn't. Sakura sensed more than anything sympathy.

"I wish it didn't. Our relationship used to be so simple, no complexities involved and now… I just don't know anymore."

Naoki was silent, willing to let her talk for a while. It seemed like she needed it.

"No one likes this you know," Sakura muttered.

"Likes what?"

"This entire business of dating another sorcerer from a family we virtually know nothing about, especially with…"

Naoki raised his eyebrows waiting on her to finished after she had trailed off, but she shook her head and muttered a quiet "never mind" instead. Now wasn't the time to talk about Tsubame.

"Sometimes, I just think I don't know anything anymore, know what I should do sometimes."

Naoki laughed a little, though not because he was amused.

"Maybe the question isn't what you should do, but rather what you want to do."

"I don't know that either," Sakura said sighing.

"Yes you do." With that, Naoki pulled her to him, despite the fact that she yelped a little and tried to pull away. "You know exactly, but you're always so afraid of what other people will say and how it will affect everyone else, but what about you. It's alright to be selfish every now and then, to take risks. Where's the fun if you don't."

"Naoki… This isn't helping. Maybe I should go."

"I'm not letting you go. Not until you stop worrying about what everyone else thinks. Worry about you right now and what you need."

"What I need," Sakura muttered leaning into Naoki's embrace and looking up so she could meet his eyes. Her eyes landed on his lips again, some of her earlier lust coming back to her mind. This was what she needed right now. To simply be with her boyfriend. To put all her problems out her mind.

Their lips met each other's then, and Sakura was very aware of how different it was from their other kisses, very aware of the growing need between them. But while a few days ago, Sakura hadn't been so sure, was in denial in fact, she couldn't deny it anymore. Something was stopping her though, especially because here in Naoki's arms, though she was comfortable, she was also nervous. Why hadn't she been nervous earlier with Yue? Why had that lustful fire burned through her so quickly before whereas now, though it was there, it was inhibited by her apprehension?

"Naoki," she said against his lips, but he silenced her with one last kiss to her lips before kissing his way down her jaw line.

"Oh… Ah… Naoki…"

Whatever she had to say, whether they be protests or encouragements, flew from her mind as she learned what it meant to melt within someone's embrace. She moaned a little as he kissed her collarbone, arms falling limp at her sides as he sucked there. She closed her eyes and gasped at the sensations, the electric tingling it sent directly to her lower regions. So consumed in the pleasure she was getting from this, Sakura didn't notice that by this time, Naoki had managed to hike her night gown up to her waist and was fingering the waist of her panties.

It wasn't until she felt his hands running under the back of her panties, touching her backside that she noticed.

"Naoki," she gasped opening her eyes.

Nervousness began to take over and suddenly, she wasn't so sure this was what she wanted anymore. She was scared. This would be her first time, and with that thought in mind, she felt herself begin to tremble a little, not that she was trying to.

He kissed back up her neck and to her ear, nipping the skin there and saying, "Stop worrying. It's okay. Relax. You know I won't hurt you."

"It's not that. It's just…"

He silenced her with a kiss. "Clear your head. Don't think about anything else. Stay in the moment and figure out what you want."

It was difficult to do that when Naoki kept kissing her, causing her entire body to tingle in anticipation. But Sakura was beginning to think that was the point. Not that she really cared about anything, about Tomoyo telling her to think about how she would feel in the long run, about how there was still an inkling of doubt in the back of her mind. She was just certain that right now, for the moment, she wanted this.

"I want you," she said in a definite tone, leaving no room for doubt there as she tilted her head to capture his lips herself this time, aware that he had tugged her panties down, the item pooling around her feet.

She stepped out of them as Naoki began to guide her away from the balcony, pulling them both down so that eventually she was lying on the soft grass with him on top of her. The fabric of his shirt and her gown, acting as a barrier between them, only served to annoy Sakrua, heat and wetness pooling between her legs. So rather timidly, she reached down to unbutton the buttons of his shirt and seeing that he wasn't stopping her, that she wasn't doing anything wrong, she continued to do so, at a faster pace, careful not to accidently pop any. When she was done, she reached her arms around him, pulling him closer to her.

Eventually they had to come apart, to catch their breath and Naoki used the opportunity to remove her nightgown the rest of the way and toss it to the side. Sakura gave a shy smile as their eyes met briefly. He leaned back down to kiss her again and sighed when their skin touched, enjoying the warmth it provided her. He pulled back again, with one last peck to her lips before pulling away from her, to take in her nakedness. Sakura blushed, instinctively raising her arms to cover her breasts, but Naoki shook his head and stopped her from doing so.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of," he said touching her across her stomach and right under her breasts.

Sakura couldn't help it though. She had never been this exposed to anyone. So she continued to blush and averted her gaze to the side, not quite able to meet her lover's eyes. Naoki let her, also letting go of her arms. Instinctively they went to cover her breasts.

Then Naoki stood up and Sakura frowned, thinking she may have displeased him somehow.

"I'm sorry. I…" she trailed off when he only chuckled at her.

"There's nothing to be sorry about," he said removing his shirt the rest of the way and then removing his remaining clothes so that he too was naked.

He lied back down next to her, and Sakura couldn't help but to stare. This was her first time seeing a man naked before, completely anyway. It was one thing to see his bare chest when they had gone on vacation before, but something else to see him completely. He was certainly well formed, muscular arms, broad shoulders, hair falling over his shoulders. And then her gaze traveled southward to where his length was, erect, ready to take her if she allowed him to.

Eventually she realized how hard she was staring, and she averted her gaze again, a little embarrassed at how just the sight of him was making her feel.

"It's alright," he said pulling her to him. "I'm just as vulnerable here as you are. See?"

Sakura nodded removing her arms from her body.

"That's it," he said beginning to kiss her down her neck again, down to her breasts, perk and erect. It was always something Sakura had been rather insecure about. They weren't the C cups she had been hoping for when she was younger, probably somewhere between an A and B. She had lost any hope of them getting bigger or filling out, simply coming to accept the fact that they were like that. She just hoped Naoki wasn't disappointed.

He didn't seem to be though. In fact he seemed fascinated by them, pulling back to look at them, before attending to them. Naoki licked the area around her breasts first, causing Sakura to shiver at the delightful sensation. How was it possible for a kiss in one place to send sensations all throughout her body, right down into her toes? Then he teased her nipple with his tongue, causing her to arch her body into him, fingers twisting into his hair, an involuntary moan coming from her lips. She felt him smile against her before he enveloped her entire nipple into his mouth to suck on it, increasing the sensations and sensitivity in her body. After he was finished he moved to do the same with the other breast.

"Naoki…" Sakura gasped.

Now accompanying the pleasurable electric tingling she was feeling in her body, was an uncomfortable throbbing between her legs, one that was becoming almost painful. She bucked her hips into him, in an effort to try to relieve it and while it helped some, it also became worse.

Naoki pulled away from her breasts, seeming to enjoy her impatience, and began running his hands down her stomach, making his way down to her heat. She shivered, gasping in delight at the sensations, how nice it felt when he finally brushed his fingers over her opening. Then he slid two fingers inside her, searching for a particular spot…

She tensed up, hips meeting with the thrust of his fingers when he found it.

"You like that?"

Sakura nodded, unable to form coherent words at the moment. He thrust once more, sure to touch the same spot, just to be sure and then began to thrust his fingers back and forth inside her, while rubbing the outside with his thumb. She began to pant, her increasing excitement combined with her gasps of pleasure at the increasing electric tingling in her body, causing her to lose her breath. But while every thrust increased her pleasure, it also increased the tightness, built the pressure, something of a strange sense of relief and torture in a way.

"Naoki," she whined.

He repositioned himself so that he was positioned next to her, while still continuing his ministrations on her. He leaned down, pressing feathery kisses on her face, then pressed his lips on her open mouth, using his tongue to explore her mouth and elicit from her louder moans.

"Patience love. Almost there."

Once more his fingers brushed against that particular spot sending that another brief bout of pleasure through her body, the throbbing tightening once more before it suddenly released, body feeling like… Sakura didn't know how to describe the feeling. She felt like someone had touched all the most pleasurable spots and nerves in her body at once, like a very brief jolt of electricity.

She cried out loudly as she rode on the waves of pleasure, aware of the feathery kisses Naoki was still planting on her face. This was more than she could have ever imagined, more than she could have anticipated. Now that she knew what it was like, she wondered how she had even suffered though her torturous wanting before.

"Naoki," she panted, opening her eyes, eager to have his hot sweaty body close to her again. Then she noticed as he looked at him how much harder and erect his length was now, much more than before. It had to be painful. Speaking of painful, how was that supposed to fit inside her?

"Don't be afraid," he said as though reading her mind, hand caressing her breasts and stomach.

Sakura nodded, spreading her legs to give Naoki room to settle between them. He leaned over her, and she wrapped his arms around his back, a sort of nervous anticipation settling over her as he guided himself to her entrance. As he began to push himself in, Sakura twitched a little at the discomfort it was causing, not used to her body feeling stretched this way, being so filled…

The pain that suddenly accompanied that discomfort took her by surprise, causing her to cry out again, but this time in pain. She closed her eyes at it. She had known it might hurt. Tomoyo had warned her that it might not feel good at first, but she didn't think it would hurt this much. A few silent tears escaped her eyes and aware of her pain and discomfort, Naoki kissed her cheek and then rested his head near her ear, simply allowing her to hold him against her for a moment.

"I know it hurts," he said to her. "But try to stay relaxed. If you tense up it'll hurt more."

Sakura nodded, allowing Naoki to kiss her lips again, which aided her in relaxing some. It did help the worst of the pain go away, but it was still uncomfortable.

"Ready now?" he asked and she nodded.

Naoki pulled himself out some and then thrust back in. Sakura winced, but didn't allow herself to tense. Seeing that she was fine and not in anymore discomfort than she had been before, Naoki continued. He kissed her to distract her from it, and for that she was grateful. It helped her to disguise her winces and twitches of discomfort, but he seemed to notice them anyway.

"Talk to me," he said kissing her neck, grunting at how tight she was, how moist and warm she was, coupled with how brave she was being, allowing him pleasure despite the discomfort it was bringing her. "Tell me what makes it better."

Sakura nodded, humming a low moan at a movement that wasn't exactly pleasurable, but not really painful either. She wasn't sure if he understood her subtle cues or if her body finally managed to adjust on its own, but after a while she felt no pain, only occasionally bouts of pleasurable sensations. She still wasn't completely comfortable with it though. And realizing that, Naoki pressed his lips on hers, distracting her from her discomfort. She moaned into the kiss, her way of telling him how grateful she was that he was trying to bring her some pleasure.

Finally he gave one final thrust, finding his release inside her. He collapsed on her, crushing her small form, but she didn't mind, rather enjoying his weight on her. It wasn't a burden. On the contrast his body against her felt like a warm secure blanket.

When he came down from his high, he kissed her, and enjoying the affection Sakura returned it in kind while he came out of her. Sakura felt a little empty as a result. It was uncomfortable, but she figured it was just something she had to get used to, for despite that she missed the feeling that came with being filled with him, connected.

"Sakura."

Sakura smiled. How she enjoyed the way he said her name, even more so after all this.

"Hm?"

"I love you. Do you know that?"

Sakura nodded. It wasn't hard to figure out how he felt about her. She had known that before. Her problem lied with herself. At one point she had been pretty sure, then she was confused, but now she was certain again. Now she was ready to move forward.

"Naoki."

"Yes Sakura."

She closed her eyes, leaning into his embrace more.

"I love you too."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**AN:** I tell you… Me and this chapter fought. Not only was it the first scene of the story and the first published, but I tried to make it as tasteful as I could, because I didn't want it to be smut. I wrote it months ago, thought it wasn't so bad, edited it, and now that I'm posting it, read through it again and wasn't completely happy again. But hey, I am my own worst critic. I know it's not as bad as I make it to be and even though I love going against the grain and doing things different in my writing, there are only so many ways to write a virgin sex scene. The interesting stuff came later… Hehehe. Anyway, I should probably be going to get in my bunker to hide because though I hinted that this was going to happen, I'm sure some of you are in a little shock right now. Lol. Don't worry I eventually get our favorite couple together. Remember, no update Tuesday. I'll be on vacation. So I think that's it. Yeah. That's it.

Hope you enjoyed! And **Review Please** if you enjoyed the chapter or even if you didn't, for ff. net has made it so easy to simply put your arrow right in that big box that follows and type a quick review. I do appreciate the comments.


	12. Morning After

**Chapter Twelve  
Morning After  
**

Kero woke up to the smell of breakfast, hotcakes, eggs and sausage to be rather specific. Sakura must be in a good mood to be cooking this much breakfast. She normally just grabbed toast for herself, too lazy to cook a full breakfast for the two of them.

To his surprise though it was Tomoyo he found in the kitchen preparing breakfast. Figures…

"Oh. Hello Kero."

"Morning Tomoyo," Kero said helping himself to the plate that was on the table, not bothering to ask who it was for. Whose else would it be? "Not that I'm complaining, but what are you doing over here making breakfast? Don't you have enough servants to do it for you?"

Tomoyo giggled. "Sometimes I like to do things for myself. Besides, Sakura's expecting me, albeit not this early. But I figured I would since I know she's not going to fix breakfast herself. It's about time she got up isn't it?"

"Isn't she already up? I mean, she wasn't in her bed. I thought she was cooking breakfast at first," Kero said.

"Really?

"She's not here," Yue said coming into the area they were in and heading into the kitchen to put on a pot of water.

"Where'd she go?" Tomoyo asked in confusion. Normally Sakura would call to let her know if something came up if they had plans.

Yue shrugged. "She left last night."

"Left!" Tomoyo asked. "What time was that? I talked to her for a while last night and she said she was going to try to go to bed. It wasn't any kind of magical disturbance was it?"

"No way. Yue's still here…" Kero trailed off, turning to look at Yue. "You let Sakura go off in the middle of the night by herself? What happened this time?"

Yue sighed, but not in the normally exasperated way he did when people asked him too many questions. It sounded stressed almost.

"Nothing happened. Just needed some space," he muttered staring at the water as it heated.

Tomoyo and Kero exchanged a look, but before they could continue to pester him, Yue said, "She probably went over to Naoki's house. Try there if you want to find her."

The tone was final. It meant not to ask him any more questions, but then again, sometimes Tomoyo could miss that. Thankfully they didn't, leaving Yue to his thoughts as he watched the water heat.

He was glad. He had a lot on his mind and the last thing he wanted to talk about with anyone was Sakura. Let her stay wherever she was. No other person could infuriate him more than she did sometimes and most of the time, if not all of the time, she wasn't trying to. It just happened. He guessed it went both ways really. He had to admit, when he didn't want to be bothered he could be a bit of an asshole, but it wasn't always her fault. To be quite honest, he enjoyed her accompany a rather great deal. He didn't mean to push her away. He wanted to trust her and save them both the frustration, emotional and sexual. But she was young, seventeen. How was she supposed to know what she wanted? So, though it was difficult at times, he could usually ignore the chemistry between them. But after her bold actions the night before, he was finding it impossible.

She had always been rather bold if the situation called for it, especially when she was determined to prove someone wrong, but usually she backed off of him, his looks usually telling her not to try whatever came to her mind. But something had gotten into her lately, something that was only egging on her desire to prove to him she wasn't a little girl… And she had certainly proved it and then some. He couldn't help but wonder when his shy, innocent mistress had learned anything about the art of seduction. It seemed like only yesterday she was a blushing, fumbling mess when one of her dates or short-lived boyfriends kissed her on the cheek. He frowned a little. Yue couldn't exactly call her innocent anymore, and that thought bothered him more than he liked to admit. No doubt Naoki had 'educated' her in things that fell into department of carnal desires. And no doubt that was where she had gone.

He sighed. It had taken all his restraint not to call her back or go after her when she fled. Otherwise, they might have an entirely different situation this morning. Part of him regretted that he hadn't.

"Yue."

Yue looked to Tomoyo who appeared to have been trying to get his attention for a while.

"Hm?"

"Your water's about to boil out."

Yue looked at the water, the water he had been looking at before but not really paying attention to. Indeed, most of it had evaporated out. He turned off the burner, suddenly not in the mood for tea anymore. He needed to get some air. Maybe that would help.

* * *

Her laugh was unmistakable, and that's what awakened Naoki late the next morning. There Tsubame was with a cup of tea in her hands, sitting on one of the nice benches on the veranda looking at him and Sakura. He sighed, reaching over to grab his shirt and cover Sakura with it, while grabbing his pants and standing up to put them on.

"Don't tell me you're being shy around me Naoki. It's nothing I haven't seen dozens of times before."

Naoki didn't respond, not even willing to fall into that trap so she could play her games with him.

"Finally got her to loosen up a bit. I was wondering how long it would take. You don't usually waste time like this with your conquests," Tsubame said to him.

"She's not a conquest."

"Then what is she?"

Naoki didn't answer and Tsubame laughed.

"I've never seen you this enthralled with a girl before love. So how was she?"

Naoki rolled his eyes.

"Come on love. Tell me."

"What's it matter to you?" Naoki asked and Tsubame pouted. He sighed. "Shy and nervous the first time around."

Tsubame grinned. "The first time around? Hm… No wonder she hasn't gotten up yet. You wore the poor girl out."

"What do you want Tsubame?"

The teasing smile dropped from Tsubame's face as she became serious and said, "It's time for us to get rid of Meiling and you have to do it fast, while I still have an alibi. You've got three days to figure it all out."

"Thanks for the short notice," Naoki said crossing his arms over his chest, drawing Tsubame's attention to a necklace around his neck.

"You still have that," she said grabbing hold of the pendant, a star cradled in the crescent of a moon coming into its fullness and a smaller sun beneath them, the perfect symbol to represent the abstract types of magic that ran in their family. Sky magics, Tsubame likes to call them. "Hm. I remember when I made this. It was so long ago. I could get you a better one now, made out of something valuable and not cheap silver."

"It's okay. I like this one," Naoki said.

Tsubame smiled a little, letting go of the pendant and saying, "I thought you weren't sentimental."

"I made an exception," Naoki said glancing at Sakura who was stirring.

Tsubame smiled. "Need some time to say a proper good-bye?"

"There will be more time for that when I return."

"Return from where?"

They both turned to Sakura who was now awake, sitting up and holding Naoki's shirt up to cover herself.

"Naoki's just going to take care of some business for me. I hate getting my hands dirty with negotiating contracts and appearances."

"So I'm the one you come to for your dirty work?" Naoki asked.

"Of course. I'm just the model. All I'm supposed to do is look pretty."

"How long will you be gone?" Sakura asked Naoki.

"Just a few days," he said.

"Don't worry Sakura. I'll keep you company," Tsubame said. "I've been wanting to talk to you anyway. I've never seen Naoki so smitten with a girl before. Therefore I just have to get to know you."

Sakura started to stand up but winced, rubbing her thighs a little as she fell back down.

Tsubame smiled. "Sore? Naoki must have worked you good then."

Sakura blushed, finally managing to stand up, and careful to keep herself covered as best as she could with Naoki's shirt. Tsubame laughed.

"Why so shy? It's only us. My sexual preference happens to be men, and it's not like you didn't show it all to Naoki last night. Oh I can't wait until he leaves so we can talk woman to woman," Tsubame said with a sly wink.

Sakura flushed even more and Naoki stood up, giving Tsubame a pointed look.

"Can I trust you to behave with her?"

"Always."

"Don't lie," Naoki said walking over to Sakura and kissing her. "If Misa gets too unbearable just call me."

"You know you love me," Tsubame said as Naoki went back inside, disappearing back down the steps. When he was gone, Tsubame turned to Sakura who was only staring at her, not sure what they were supposed to be doing.

"Come on Sakura. Put that on properly and let's go make some breakfast."

* * *

Sakura wasn't quite sure what to make out of Misa. She seemed a little eccentric before, outgoing even judging by the comfort of which she approached certain topics, but that was before she found out that not only were they from the same family, but they had also been involved at some point to boot. How was she supposed to deal with that?

"I won't bite," Misa said as she placed a bowl of fruit salad in front of Sakura. "We can go out to eat later. I'm not too fond of cooking."

"Out," Sakura repeated and Misa nodded.

"You can wear something of mine since what you have on certainly wouldn't be appropriate," Misa teased glancing at the shirt that only covered about three fourths of Sakura's thighs.

Sakura blushed.

Misa smiled. "Don't be shy. It's just us. So tell me how was it?"

Sakura shifted uncomfortably on the stool she was on.

"Come on. You can tell me. I promise I won't tell Naoki what a bad performer he is."

"No," Sakura said quickly and then blushed as she continued. "Naoki was great. I liked it overall. It was just…"

"Uncomfortable?" Misa asked sipping on her tea.

Sakura nodded. "Especially the first time… the second time it was a lot better but…"

"I'll have to scold Naoki later. Virgins don't have that kind of stamina…"

Sakura flushed again and Misa laughed. "Just kidding. I understand what you mean. The first couple of times are like that. It takes some getting used to. Don't feel bad it wasn't as mind blowing as the stuff you read in manga or novels. It doesn't always hurt the first time like people say, but it's not always that great the first time either."

"Really? What about yours?"

"I had about the same reaction you did," Misa said casually, but something about the way she said it told Sakura there was a deeper story behind it. "It gets better… a lot better. Good thing you have an experienced partner like Naoki to help with that."

Sakura looked at Misa, not sure how to take that particular comment, for she didn't know whether Misa was talking in a general sense, or if she was talking about her own personal experience with him. Oddly enough, neither meaning made Sakura feel uncomfortable. How could she be uncomfortable when Misa was so casual about it.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked carefully.

Misa laughed. "Don't let Naoki's macho masculine exterior fool you. He's actually a very sensitive being, very in tune to what people are feeling and what their needs are."

Sakura had noticed. Even in the midst of passion, Naoki had been very aware of her feelings, making the experience pleasurable in a different way, though she liked how it made her feel physically too. Even now, as she sat with his shirt on, infused with his musky lavendar scent, she was eager for the next time around.

"You're lucky," Misa said after a while. "Not many girls get that with their first time partner."

"You didn't?"

Misa tuned up her lips a little and said, "Not remotely."

Sakura decided not to ask Misa what she meant by it, not that she thought Misa would mind since she didn't seem bothered by it. Instead Sakura tried to divert her attention, eyes landing on Misa's left ringer finger.

"You're married?" Sakura asked.

"Yes," Misa said looking where Sakura's gaze was. "But this isn't my wedding ring."

"Then what…?"

Misa turned her hand so that Sakura could see the back of it. It was a star cradled in the crescent of a moon in its early stages with a smaller sun at the bottom.

"Naoki has a necklace like that," Sakura said having noticed in at some point or another, but not asking her boyfriend about it.

"Of course he does. It's our family crest," Misa said.

"Crest?"

Misa nodded as she held her hand up to her face and absently said, "Yeap. You'll have one just like it one day."

"A crest? For what?"

Misa smiled. "Well surely a powerful young sorceress like you will eventually have a family of her own and continue your line. Most powerful magic families started with a powerful matriarch or patriarch. That's what my crest represents."

Sakura guessed that at some point Naoki had gotten around to telling Misa that she was now aware of their magic. She hadn't thought to ask him before he left.

"Your family's founders?"

Misa nodded. "It represents the magic that runs in the family. Sky magic I call it; things in the sky anyway. You know like wind, dark, light, less tangible magics."

"Your family must be large."

"Large enough," Misa replied taking Sakura's still half full fruit bowl.

"So what's your magic?"

"One of the more common forms," Misa said to her.

Sakura decided not to ask which one that was, feeling like she should probably know what the more common types of magic were since Misa said it as though that said it all. She'd figure it out later.

But Misa didn't talk about her magic anymore after that, immediately suggesting that they go shopping. Sakura didn't see the point for Misa. The older woman had a closet full of items she had never worn. But Misa claimed she was in it for the experience and even offered to buy Sakura whatever she wanted citing that while they were for the most part the same size, Misa was a little bit more endowed in some place. Sakura wouldn't let her buy anything for her though. Their size wasn't that much of a difference.

In the end, Sakura didn't buy anything, saying she could just go home and get some things. But Misa had a better idea. They could just stay at her house while Naoki was gone. It would be easier. Misa was always packed for one thing or another. Sakura didn't really like the idea. She didn't want to go, didn't quite want to face Yue yet, especially now that she and Naoki… Sakura shook her head and gave Misa the directions. The woman had to be driving over the speed limit, but a look at the speedometer told her that wasn't the case. Sakura was simply so anxious not to go home, it seemed like they were going faster than necessary.

If Misa noticed her anxiousness, she didn't say anything during the trip. And when they arrived, Sakura led her inside, gesturing for her to wait in the living room while she went to get Tomoyo.

* * *

"Mind if I fix some tea?" Tsubame asked as Sakura went upstairs to get the other girl.

Sakura shrugged and nodded her head as she made her way upstairs. When she was gone, Tsubame sighed, feeling a sense of déjà-vu come over her as she made her way to the kitchen, setting her purse in a chair. She hadn't thought about it in a while, rarely liked to dwell on it, but it was hard to believe that she had come from humble beginnings like this before she became queen.

It had also been a while since she did something as mundane as preparing her own tea without magic. It was amusing, to try to remember a time where she didn't have her magic to help her. Tsubame smiled a little as she prepared some tea and then stopped, sensing that she was being watched. She turned around to face Yue, the card mistress' moon guardian. He was in his disguised form, obviously having sensed her before he came in the house and not sure who she was. His hair was pulled back into a ponytail, arms crossed, and eyes just slightly narrowed as he sized her up, tried to figure out who she was. Tsubame held in a giggle. This could be fun.

"Hello," she said. "I'm Misa and you must be Yue. Sakura's guardian right? She talks about you a lot."

"Does she?" Yue asked not returning her kind greeting, not that Tsubame was offended. Naoki would probably act the same way if he came home and found a strange person in their house. In fact, he had on numerous occasions. It was probably worse seeing that he was no doubt suspicious of her intentions what with all the trouble she was causing them-going to cause them she added to herself while trying not to smile-, not that they were aware of who she was yet.

Tsubame nodded, not put off by Yue's coldness which seemed to surprise him. She took out an extra tea cup for him and then unable to help herself said, "The strong silent type I see. I have to admit, you're starting to make me rethink my wedding vows." Not that she had meant them…

He was caught off guard by her forwardness, especially since it was despite his off-putting demeanor. That's what Tsubame had been counting on.

"Don't bother," he said finally starting to get a hold of himself again.

"Taken?" Tsubame asked though she knew full well the answer.

"It's complicated."

She'd bet. So as Tsubame prepared her tea, she smiled and said, "You know when a person says a relationship is complicated, it means they're not quite sure where the hell they stand with the other person meaning they haven't committed yet. So I take that as a no."

Tsubame laughed at the curious expression on Yue's face and then added, "I know how you feel. Relationships like you and Sakura's are always complicated, at least until you know where you both stand."

"Who says Sakura's the person I'm talking about?"

"Because I used to be Sakura's age and taken care of by my older attractive companion," Tsubame said laughing still. "Don't worry, it'll eventually work itself out. Until then, you and I should get to know each other a little better while I'm in town and staying here until Naoki comes back."

Yue raised his eyebrow at her. "Aren't you married?"

"Only if you want me to be," Tsubame said as she came up to him with a cup of tea. "Besides, he's all the way in China. What he doesn't know won't hurt him."

She handed him the tea, knowing that now that she had his guard down some he would take it. He did so, inhaling the scent, and then seeming surprised took a sip.

"How did you know?" he asked when he brought it down.

"Know what?" Tsubame asked coyly looking over the rim of her own tea.

"How I like my tea?" Yue asked beginning to raise his guard again. Only Sakura and Cerberus knew this or really cared to know.

Tsubame laughed. "Well if I want you to go out with me, I have to figure out what you like and whatnot."

Yue looked at her pointedly and Tsubame rolled her eyes.

"It's the magic of being a woman," she said glancing at the doorway upon hearing footsteps.

"Misa this is-Oh. Hello Yue."

Yue, still staring at Tsubame who was now acting like nothing out of the ordinary had happened, nodded silently to acknowledge Sakura who was standing in the doorway with Tomoyo behind her.

Tsubame looked between the two, the tension obvious, the need to be together, but not knowing how to deal with it leading to them needing to be apart. She smiled a little. They were making her plans a lot easier without even knowing it. To think if Yue found out what his not so innocent mistress had been up to the night before…

"Sorry for taking so long," Sakura said.

"It's okay. Yue was good company."

Sakura made a snorting noise, causing Yue to glare at her.

"Sorry," she said to him. "But you're hardly ever good company to people you don't know."

"Everyone has their quirks. I wasn't offended by his standoffishness," Tsubame said setting her cup down. "So this is Tomoyo?"

Sakura blinked, remembering that her friend was behind her. "Oh yeah. That's right. You may have met her. She was the designer for that shoot you did a few months back."

"I remember," Tsubame said smiling. "This is great. Maybe you can help me to pry out the more intimate details about her and Naoki."

Tsubame glanced briefly at Yue, aware of the tightening grip on his cup.

"That sounds fun. Sakura's always so quiet about anything to do with Naoki."

Sakura flushed. "Misa…" Sakura trailed off, turning on her heel and fleeing the room, with Tomoyo giggling behind her.

"Still acting all shy, just like this morning," Tsubame began more to herself but knowing well enough Yue could hear her. "May not be a so innocent anymore, but she still acts like a virgin. I'll have to rectify that."

Tsubame rinsed out her cup, very aware of Yue's eyes now watching her and very aware that he wanted to question her on her comment to Sakura. However he didn't, all the better for Tsubame. When she was done, she started out the room, purposely brushing her arm against his as she passed him.

"See you later."

"Thanks for the tea," he said tersely.

"My pleasure."

* * *

**AN:** Back from vacation and boy did I need it. A week goes by really fast, but I suppose not fast enough for those waiting for this chapter. Lol. Not much to say except that because my muses crave originality, I went with a different approach to the morning after thing and Tsubame is just too fun to write. There was also a lot in this chapter, a lot of things were set into place to move along things that happen later in this fic. And it's a little longer than most, fitting since I didn't update Tuesday. And since everyone was talking about the morning after anyway, I called the chapter that since I had nothing better to call it.

Hope you enjoyed! And **Review Please** if you enjoyed the chapter or even if you didn't, for ff. net has made it so easy to simply put your arrow right in that big box that follows and type a quick review. I do appreciate the comments.


	13. Lonely

**Chapter Thirteen  
Lonely  
**

Sakura tried her mightiest not to look as bothered as she felt, tried not to ball her fist so tight, tried not to let her smiles look as fake as she knew they were. It was a hard feat though. Thankfully no one seemed to notice her discomfort.

Misa was great company, even though she was a few years older. It was sometimes like having a loveable older sister to talk to. She was outgoing, friendly, easily bored and always looking for to do something. There was nothing to hate about her. Sakura was glad Misa and Tomoyo were able to get along with her so well. But there was just one problem. Sakura tried to tell herself Misa didn't mean anything by it, but it didn't stop Sakura from going insane with jealousy when she began to notice how much the other sorceress liked to flirt with her guardian.

It started rather innocent really, with Misa saying offhandedly to Tomoyo and Sakura when Yue walked past them one day that he was the type that made her start to rethink her wedding vows. Sakura had laughed then, albeit a bit uncomfortably. Then one day, when Sakura coaxed Yue into having tea with them, instead of letting Sakura fix Yue's tea when she asked, Misa took the task upon herself to do and somehow had managed to figure out the exact way he liked it, right down to the meticulous way to put it on the saucer and sit it in front of him. Then she started suggesting that the two of them go out somewhere, the reason being that Yue needed to loosen up some.

While Yue didn't seem to be interested, and it appeared Misa's forwardness made him uncomfortable at times, he did humor her some. He would gently remind Misa that she was married, but not in that reprimanding, reproachful tone Sakura was used to. It might have been Sakura's jealousy clouding her senses, but she could have sworn it was his way of being coy and playful with her, especially since he didn't try to stop her actions.

She wished Misa would stop. The woman was married for God's sake. Heck, it wasn't even about the fact that Misa was married. If Misa wanted to be unfaithful then that was her business, but Sakura wished she would find someone else to work her charms on. Misa didn't bother Yue all the time though. In fact, she only did it when the opportunity came up, but it was the times she managed it that killed Sakura. And so when Misa saw the opportunity come up again, Sakura made some excuse to leave and went to her room.

She slammed the door behind her, cheeks red with anger as she crossed her arms and sat on her bed.

"You're sure in a bad mood. What's gotten into you?"

Sakura couldn't contain it anymore, couldn't control it.

"That bitch is what!" she snapped.

Kero, who was trying to figure out the daily word puzzle in the newspaper, dropped the pencil he was holding in shock.

"Sakura!" he said aghast.

"Well she is," Sakura said. "How dare she? She's married for goodness sake. But if she wants to rethink her wedding vows, she can do it with someone else, not Yue!"

Kero rolled his eyes, going back to his puzzle. "So that's what this is about."

"What do you mean by that?" Sakura asked not liking the annoyed tone with which he spoke.

"You can't have it both ways Sakura," Kero replied. "Last I checked you were absolutely smitten with Naoki. So what do you have to be jealous for? It makes no sense. If you're allowed to move on, Yue can if he wants. Not that it seems like he's interested in that girl anyway."

That was true, Sakura thought to herself. She did have Naoki, but it wasn't so much that she didn't still love him. It was the fact that in a matter of four days, Misa had Yue figured out, had learned things about him in four days that it took Sakura years to figure out, figured out how to amuse and annoy him at the same time and ignore the way he glared at her or became standoffish. Misa had figured out how to get Yue to let his guard down a little, and that's what drove Sakura nuts. How come she hadn't been able to do all that before? Why hadn't he openly responded to her like that?

"Still. Why does he let her be like that with him?"

"Because she doesn't give mixed signals. Sure she might be playing, but it's obvious what she's getting at, and she's sure of it. If she acted like she was uncertain at all, Yue would put an end to it. That simple."

"That doesn't make any sense!"

"It does actually. It actually takes a fair amount of aggression and determination when it comes to dealing with Yue. You may call it forward and bold, but Misa has the right idea."

"So theoretically, you're saying if I was aggressive and bold like Misa, he'd respond with me the same way?"

"What do you care? You have a boyfriend," Kero said absently as he figured out another part of the word puzzle.

Sakura hadn't forgotten that. She was just a little frustrated that she couldn't be like Misa before. Maybe if she had been… Sakura didn't know, and she shouldn't be wondering. She was happy with Naoki right? She was in love with him. Sakura sighed. Then why did she still think about Yue so much?

Sakura groaned and buried her face in her pillow just as the door to her room open and in walked the bane of her existence.

"What?" she asked.

"You appeared agitated before. Are you okay?"

"Perfect," Sakura said in an obviously sarcastic tone. "So why don't you go back and hang out with Misa since you like her so much."

Kero sighed, but continued to work on his puzzle.

"She's only tolerable," Yue replied.

"Well you sure tolerate her more than you ever tolerated me," Sakura snapped, now not caring that her jealousy was apparent.

"Considering all your mood swings and the fact that I'm still here, that's debatable."

"Only because you're forced to, because I'm your mistress and even then only so far," Sakura muttered, the anger fading from her tone, but instead of him sympathizing with her, he scoffed, probably scowled, but she wasn't sure as she wasn't facing him.

"Stop acting jealous."

"You're insensitive."

"You certainly weren't being sensitive the other night when you ran out of here to sleep with your boyfriend."

Sakura sat up, face paling as she slowly turned around to look at Yue. He wasn't supposed to know about that, particularly that it happened right after her daring move the night before, initially spurred by a desire to get rid of his smugness, but had turned into something more. She started to ask how he figured that out until it occurred to her that Misa might have inadvertently done so in her openness, and Sakura had never told the woman not to say anything about it to begin with.

"I didn't intend for it to happen," she muttered mentally reminding herself that though that was the case she had been thinking about it before. But Yue didn't need to know that. "I needed somewhere to stay, and it just did."

Yue made a noise that clearly meant he didn't believe her or if he did, he didn't care. He made his point and continued out the room. Sakura bit her lip, looking at Kero who was staring after Yue. He eventually sighed and shook his head, apparently deciding it was in his best interests not to get involved. There was nothing to say anyway. How could they have responded? That was cold even for Yue, to throw something in her face like that. Then again, Sakura didn't blame him, not completely anyway.

Regardless, suddenly she felt rather empty and alone inside. She was hating Yue's coldness more and more lately and it was making her miss Naoki, his warmth, his embrace. She was supposed to have moved on. This shouldn't bother her anymore. Sakura sighed. It was going to be a long next few days.

* * *

He had to make it look like an accident, make it look like he was going for one target while actually going for another, and it was much easier said than done. Naoki never missed a target unless he wanted to. His aim was flawless and so he watched for a couple of days, waiting for the perfect moment. He didn't at all feel sorry for the girl Tsubame wanted dead. More than likely, she was a thorn in her plan anyway, and Naoki understood why Tsubame wanted her out the way. She was close to the Li Clan head. There was only so far Tsubame's charm could work with her powers so diminished, namely that even she could do nothing when she had to up and leave for whatever reason. It gave Meiling a chance to try to talk some sense into him.

Naoki overheard her before he made the fatal blow.

"Sakura told me something and the more I think about it, the more I think it makes sense."

"What is it?"

Meiling moved in a way that might obscure a more mediocre assassin from his target if Li Syaoran were the target. It wouldn't have bothered Naoki, but it gave him the perfect circumstance to make it look like an accident.

They never saw it coming. She didn't suffer. Naoki wasn't that cruel. She died instantly. With that done, Naoki went back to his hotel, not surprised to fine Tsubame herself waiting for him.

"I can always depend on you to get the job done love," she said to him.

"I still don't know how starting a feud between the Li Clan and the Reed Clan is going to help you," Naoki said to her.

"It won't, not in and of itself anyway," Tsubame said. "I need the magic council to get involved."

Naoki looked at Tsubame and almost laughed. "I thought you despised the magic council."

"I do. But they have their uses. I'm going to make it look like this whole thing has been orchestrated by them," Tsubame said.

"And then what?"

"You'll see soon love, un the next few days. Until then, I would like for you to go spend some time with the card mistress."

Naoki frowned. "Not that I'm exactly protesting, but why?" Naoki asked. "If you're somehow trying to incorporate this into your plan you can forget it."

Tsubame rolled her eyes. "Relax love. I just suggested it because she seems to really miss you."

"Does she?"

"Oh yes. It seems she and Yue aren't getting along that well. She's back at your apartment, probably feeling a little lonely."

"Why do I get the feeling you had something to do with this?" Naoki asked advancing on Tsubame.

Tsubame wasn't intimidated by him towering over her, never had been. "I didn't do anything I don't normally do. I'm just ensuring she finds her place before I make my final move."

"I told you. Leave her alone."

"You seem happy with her. I'm just ensuring you don't lose her," Tsubame said smiling at him.

"I don't need your help with that."

"Always so cocky. You're not that _good_."

"You're still here, even if you won't admit to it."

Tsubame scowled at him, but was otherwise unfazed by his comment. Instead she continued her earlier point. "I want you to be happy. I don't want you to feel torn, to have to choose between us."

Naoki looked at her and then said, "You know if it came to that, there would be no choice right?"

Tsubame smiled. "Of course there isn't."

* * *

Sakura sighed as she made herself busy with summer homework in the empty apartment. She didn't know how Naoki lived here by himself for the most part. It was so quiet here. Too quiet. She wished Misa had been able to stay, but the girl had rushed back to China because of some family emergency. She sighed again, putting her homework aside and laying her head down on the coffee table. She should probably go home, but she felt even more lonely there and so cold.

When had her life come to this, her relationship with her moon guardian crumbling because she had decided to move on with her life? If she had known it would bother Yue this much, affect their relationship so much…

Sakura got up and went to Naoki's room, burying her face in his sheets and comforters. It made her feel a little better. She closed her eyes, about to go to sleep and then jumped upon hearing a chuckle behind her.

"Well this is a nice way to come home. Unexpected, but a pleasant surprise."

Sakura turned around, to face Naoki looking at her with an amused expression. She laughed as her surprise went away, ebbing into happiness. She slid off the bed went over to embrace him. He pulled her into a kiss, causing Sakura to have to pause her thoughts and return the affection. How she had missed this…

"You're back. I thought you'd be gone a few more days," Sakura said softly when he pulled away from her.

"I was supposed to," Naoki said. "But I got finished early and then Misa called to tell me that I needed to get over to China because of a death in the family."

Sakura gasped. "Really? Who?"

"Her cousin-in-law I think. Needless to say, she has a lot of stuff to help her husband sort out," Naoki said sighing as he sat on the bed.

"That's awful."

Naoki nodded. "Misa wanted me to catch the first flight out, but I told her I'd get there before the funeral."

"Why? Is there something you have to do?" Sakura asked sitting next to him on her knees.

Naoki nodded, and Sakura waited for him expectantly to tell her.

"I couldn't just leave you here, waiting for me," he said leaning closer to her.

Sakura leaned back some, heart beginning to race with anticipation. But she didn't want to seem like she was eager, like this was the only reason she had wanted him back even though it was part of it.

"I-" She paused when she noticed his proximity to her. "You could have gone ahead. I would have understood."

"Misa told me you seemed lonely. You could have called me more often. I wouldn't have minded."

"I wasn't really lonely, not a lot anyway. I was just dealing with something is all."

"So you didn't miss me? You just needed a distraction?"

"No! I-" Sakura cut herself off when he laughed and pouted when she realized he was teasing her, only causing him to laugh more.

"Don't be like that," he said to her. "I don't mind distracting you if that's what you need."

He kissed her again then, firmer than he had when she greeted him earlier and Sakura hummed in contentment, a contentment she had been missing the past few days. He sucked on her bottom lip some causing her to open her mouth, allowing him to explore her mouth with his tongue, eliciting a long moan out her as she fell back, forcing herself to relax, not let her apprehension break the flow of what was happening. That was Misa's advice actually, to not let her nerves or embarrassment get the best of her.

Since Misa seemed to have a lot of experience, Sakura decided to try to take her advice and lied down, forcing Naoki to crawl over her so their lips wouldn't come apart. She gasped as one of his hands began to rub her thighs, the other rubbing her breasts through her tank and bra. That familiar burning sensation began to build up, spreading from her core to the rest of her body, and Sakura raised her hips to into Naoki's groin, causing Sakura to moan and Naoki to let out a low groan. Wetness pooled between her legs again, soaking her panties, and the hardness she felt, rubbing her heat wasn't helping matters.

"I missed you," she said against his lips.

"I know," he said to her gripping her tank with his hand and pulling it over her head.

She thought he would go for her bra next, but instead he crawled down between her legs, planting kisses on her inner thigh, back up to her waist and then down between her legs, kissing her wet core through the thin fabric of her shorts. She cried out at the sensation, just that one motion threatening to send her over the edge, take her to her peak. She lifted her hips again, causing him to chuckle.

"You're rather eager," he said playing with the waistband of her shorts as he continued to kiss her thighs. "How much did you miss me?"

"A lot," she managed sighing as he began to remove her shorts.

"Only a lot?"

Sakura tried to scowl at his teasing but was unable to do so for he was touching her through the flimsy cloth of her panties, now wet with her liquids, and while it felt nice, Sakura was eager to get the piece of cloth off of her. It was becoming rather uncomfortable, but Naoki didn't remove them, only continuing to rub her through them. She bit her lip, trying to contain what was no doubt about to be a loud cry and noticing this, Naoki slowed his ministrations some in an attempt to get her to let it out

"Don't hold it in," he said, running his finger in a slow up and down motion that was driving her insane before rubbing again in a circular motion near her entrance.

She gasped, feeling that annoying yet exciting pressure begin to build up there as she gripped the sheets of the bed. It was so close, almost there…

She screamed when the pent up pressure and tension finally released, causing her to body to tense, her breath to be temporarily knocked out of her as she enjoyed the sensations of her climax, hot liquid now dripping down her thighs.

"Was that how much you missed me?" Naoki asked.

It took a while for her to answer, for she had to regain her breath, but while she did so, she observed that while she was nearly naked, he still had most his clothing on, despite the bulge in his pants. Her embarrassment and shyness left, probably with her climax, replaced by a curiosity and boldness driven by desire and lust. If he could make her feel this way, could she do the same for him?

So she sat up and got to her knees to kneel in front of him, resting her hands on his thighs.

"No," she finally answered. "I missed you more."

"More?"

Sakura reached her hands behind her to unclasp her bra as she said, "A lot more."

She removed the bra, tossing it off the bed where her shorts and tanks had gone. Sakura noticed his eyes on her breasts and though she knew he had seen them before, it was still unnerving. He leaned forward, probably to try to take one to his mouth, but Sakura captured his lips with hers to stop him, her hands crawling up his thighs to the hem of his shirt where she purposely brushed her hands over the bulge of his pants. She paused there for a moment, listening for a reaction as she did so. She heard him hiss, so she continued up, grabbing the hem of his shirt, pulling away from their kiss to lift it over his head, baring his chest to her. She ran her hands over it lightly, tracing the lines between muscles not exactly sure what to do next, but apparently Naoki liked her touches there and so she wondered what kind of reaction she'd get if she kissed him there.

Sakura began from the bottom, near his bellybutton and slowly made her way up his chest, eventually making her way up his chest to his nipples. She licked around one, and then sucked there and hearing a deep moan from him, she continued to do so, eventually forcing him to lie back on the bed. She went to the other side when she was done on the first, giving it the same treatment only this time grazing her teeth across his skin some eliciting a much louder moan from him.

"Sakura," he said as she made her way back up to his lips, planting a kiss there before sitting up a little, leaning her hands on his chest and shifting the weight of her hips on him.

He groaned again, grabbing her hips, and Sakura, not sure what she had done, shifted again causing him to grip her hips tighter.

"Is that…?" Sakura didn't quite know whether he was encouraging her or trying to stop her.

When he began to urge her to rock her hips along his length, she understood that he was encouraging her and began to rub herself up and down his hardness. He groaned louder and Sakura began to rock back and forth against him faster, causing his groans to turn into screams of her name.

It was all incredibly arousing for Sakura. She panted as the ache between her leg worsened.

"Naoki," she said, not sure how much longer she'd be able to keep this up. "I… Oh!"

She cried out as she reached a second climax, stopping her motion as she enjoyed the high. Naoki wasn't content to wait on her to gain her bearing again though and so flipped them over so that he was again leaning over her. She reached up to try to pull him back down to her, and Naoki complied as he leaned down to plant an open mouthed kiss on her lips, while leaving enough room between them to first remove her panties and then his pants. He then complied with her need to have his warmth against her, pressing her breasts flat against his chest.

Gripping one of her thighs, he thrust inside her. Sakura screamed in surprise at the pleasurable sensation, heightened by the sensitivity created by her recent climax. She lifted her hips into his to meet his thrust, to try to keep up with the rhythm, but he was going so fast. It was violent and to Sakura's surprise, she liked it.

"Don't stop," she muttered. "Don't… Ah! Naoki!"

The tightening of her walls around her sent him over the edge, and he found his release inside her. With a few final thrust, he emptied the last of his seed inside her and then collapsed on top of her. As they started to fall asleep, Sakura was aware of the faint ringing of her phone, but decided to call back later. She didn't want to move. She was hot, sweaty, and probably needed a good shower, but there was no way to describe how she was feeling. Misa was right. It did get a lot better.

* * *

**AN:** I stress a lot over the more graphic scenes of the story, the philosophy of which I decided was that if it started to write itself in, it was needed for some reason and it wasn't going to be for the sake of being there. As a result, there were times were I went ten chapters without a scene like this and then some where it was back to back. Anywho, I try to edit these relentlessly always trying to switch up the tones depending on what's happening during the time or situation. It's also really hard to name these chapters. Sometimes they come easy and others... Well, they get titles like this one did.

Anyway, the great divide and conflict between Yue and Sakura gets a little worse and apparently Misa is a tad too flirty. Not to mention Meiling is dead. This story will now start to come together and form a better picture of what's going on although we're still in for a long ride. I think, and don't quote me, that this story will be about fifty chapters… I hope. I don't want it longer than that.

In other news I went back to school yesterday and I think this may be one of my easiest semesters despite my tight schedule, maybe because I'm taking all major classes this semester. Shrugs. Regardless, I just may be able to go ahead and finish writing this story in the next coming weeks because I'm back in school. The library is really quiet and makes a great place to write which is what I do instead of studying… I really need to sort out my priorities. I swear.

Hope you enjoyed! And **Review Please** if you enjoyed the chapter or even if you didn't, for ff. net has made it so easy to simply put your arrow right in that big box that follows and type a quick review. I do appreciate the comments.


	14. Tsubame and the Magic Council

**Chapter Fourteen  
Tsubame and the Magic Council  
**

It had worked out better than Tsubame could have ever anticipated. They tried to hide it, especially from her since she was just coming into the family. But even under the shroud of mourning, she could sense the tension and fear in the air, the potential panic that the murder of one of their own had produced. She didn't blame them, she would have felt the same way if someone managed to breach the magical wards of her own estate and kill someone dear to her. But the difference was that she wasn't arrogant enough to think it couldn't be done.

So of course it had been a shock. This was something the family hadn't had to deal with in centuries. They didn't know how to deal with the ensuing panic that could come when something like this happened. But Tsubame planned to take advantage of it.

The elders were surprised to see her when she walked in, but didn't question her since they were used to seeing her walk in to pay them company or serve them tea. She feigned a worried look and finally wondering what she wanted, one of them asked, "Is something the matter Misa?"

Tsubame looked at her lap, where her hands were clasped in a false sign of submission and humbleness.

"Besides the assignation attempt?" she asked.

The atmosphere became heavy, exactly what Tsubame wanted. Mentioning it so outright and bluntly would put them on guard, make them paranoid.

"I'm concerned for the family. I know I haven't been here long and to be honest, Meiling and I didn't get along too well, but I still thought of her like the family member she was and it disturbs me…" Tsubame purposefully trailed off at the end.

"Why is that?"

Tsubame shrugged. "I don't mean to be suspicious, but I did some research and the Li Clan has been one of the most powerful for decades, especially because of its close following of tradition and seeking of honor before power, unlike the Reeds who have succumbed to the pressures of western civilization, the exact reason their family is in shambles now. How many times have they had to be bailed out by you? Otherwise they would have died out years ago."

"What are you getting at child?" one of the elders snapped at her.

Tsubame held her temper at the insult. If only they knew how long ago it had been since she was a child to anyone. Regardless, she was obviously hitting a sour point.

"I'm just expressing my concern considering the fact that magic as it was once known is dying and everyone wants in on a way to preserve their line."

It wasn't exactly a fact, more like an exaggeration of sorts. Magic wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, even with science and logic and the industrial revolution. It was all the same to her really. Science and magic. The difference was that she didn't have to go through the trouble of a laboratory and figuring out how to do it. People with magic were simply highly in tune with the forces of nature and the universe, so much so that they could manipulate those forces with a thought and by learning to hone that sixth sense. Magic wasn't going anywhere. It would just be called by a different name one day. Part of Tsubame's eventual plan was making sure everyone knew that.

"Speaking of that. It's odd that right after I married Syaoran, someone would try to kill him isn't it? It's like they want to kill him before…"

"Before what?"

"Well, he's the last male heir, unless I have a son. Then who would lead the Clan?"

They didn't answer her question. But Tsubame already knew the answer. It would go to the closest and most powerful relative. They certainly wouldn't hand it off to her, not unless she mothered a male heir and she simply rule in his stead until he was old enough. Tsubame almost rolled her eyes. Quite frankly, sticking to the tradition of a male leader would bring doom to any family. A woman could rule just as effectively as a man, better in fact. She was proof. Regardless, it worked in her favor for now. It wasn't something she was going to dare them to change right yet, not until she was effectively in power. Right now she needed them to realize how close they were to losing centuries of tradition and honor because if anything happened to their precious clan leader, next in line was Jonathon Reed.

She didn't have to be bold enough to outright say it. In fact it worked better this way. Not only would it keep her in Misa's character, but it simply make the subtle suggestion that just maybe their so-called closest allies were behind a plot to take control. It would be like a ticking time bomb, just a matter of time before the tensions would explode.

"I'm sorry," Tsubame said. "I've probably wasted enough of your time."

Tsubame got up to leave, her work done. Now to talk to the magic council… after making a few phone calls.

* * *

"I don't recognize this number," Sakura said sitting on the edge of the bed after she went to retrieve her phone from the living room later that night.

Naoki, hearing her, sighed and muttered, "Forget the number and get back over here."

He reached out with his left arm to try to grab her around her waist, but Sakura moved and said, "Hold on," while trying to call back the number.

Naoki's answer was a groan, but he didn't try to grab her again. Instead he closed his eyes, patient enough to wait on her to be done.

Sakura didn't have to wait long for the person to pick back up the phone.

"Hello," Sakura said when the person picked up.

The person on the other end paused before saying, _"Sakura?"_

"Misa?" Sakura said blinking in surprise.

"_Sakura? Wow. Small world. I was under the assumption this would be a different Kinomoto when I looked at this list. Hm… I didn't get your number when I was back in Japan?"_

Sakura shook her head, even though Misa couldn't see. The question had been mostly rhetorical anyway.

"_Who knew you're a friend of the Li Clan?"_

"What?" Sakura asked confused. "The Li Clan. You know them?"

"_More than that. I'm married to its leader. But anyway…."_

Sakura didn't hear after that, so shocked she was that it was Misa who Meiling had called her complaining about. Misa was the girl who had gone in and made her way into the family without much effort on her part.

"_Sakura. Did you hear me?"_

Sakura blinked. "Sorry. Say that again?"

"_You're on this list Syaoran gave me of personal friends to invite to the funeral on his behalf. It's not supposed to be my job, but I thought it was more proper and personal if I did it."_

"What funeral?"

"_The one of Li Meiling."_

Sakura nearly dropped the phone. "What?"

"_I know. It's so shocking, and she was so young too. It's crazy around here. It was so sudden."_

"How?"

Misa sighed through the line. _"I'm not supposed to be telling you this, but we don't think it was an accident… Well, not an accident that someone died anyway. The assumption is that Syaoran was the target and the assassin missed."_

Sakura was quiet as the gears began to turn in her head.

"_Anyway, you're on the guest list for the funeral. Your guardians can come too of course, along with… a Dadouji?"_

"Tomoyo," Sakura said quietly.

"_Oh. The family agrees to pay any expenses, and you're free to stay at the estate. I hope you can come. I think Syaoran could use some close friends. He's devastated."_

"I'll bet," Sakura muttered.

"_Well I have this list to finish. Say hi to Naoki for me… Oh yeah. He's coming too, so I'll try to arrange for you all to be on the same flight. See you soon Sakura."_

Misa hung up the phone before Sakura had the chance to say her own greeting, not that Sakura could. She was too shocked. Not only was Meiling dead, but Misa was the girl that Meiling kept complaining about, the girl who made her way into the family and had the whole Clan bowing at her feet. Now that Sakura knew the woman, she could see how she had done it. Misa had a personality that just attracted people to her, one people couldn't help but like. It even loosened up Yue when she had been here. Sakura scowled briefly at the thought.

She bit her lip though as the implications came to her head. Misa had been one of their suspects in connection to Tsubame. It was possible that Meiling had known too much and if Misa was connected, she had the girl killed. But that was impossible. Based on the timing, Misa had been with her when Meiling was killed and while she could have gotten Naoki to do it, Naoki hadn't left the country. He had just gone to negotiate the terms of a modeling contract for Misa. Then again, how did Sakura know that? A nagging voice in the back of her head told her she should have listened to Yue, but the truth was not only had her judgment been clouded by her love for Naoki, but she had also been feeling a tad spiteful toward him at the time.

"Are you alright?"

Sakura sighed when she felt Naoki's chest pressing against her back as he sat up and pulled her against him.

"I'm fine. Just a little shocked is all."

"Oh?"

"That was Misa," Sakura said. "I didn't know she was married to Syaoran."

"Her husband? You know him?" Naoki asked.

"Yeah. He's a friend of mine. His cousin was killed."

"That's what Misa told me."

Sakura tilted her head. She felt compelled to ask why he hadn't told her who Misa was married to, but thought better of it. There had been no need to tell her. She hadn't asked, nor had the topic come up in conversation. Why would he tell her?

"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked, voice vibrating in her ear, sending delightful shivers down her spine.

Her magic had never failed her before. If Misa and Naoki were a threat to her, Sakura would have known it off the bat. How someone who brought so much joy in her life be connected with her newest enemy, if Tsubame could even be called that considering Sakura hadn't seen her since that first encounter. Heck, even though Misa got on her nerve with the way she liked to flirt with Yue, which was now even more annoying since Sakura knew who her husband was, Misa wasn't a bad person, hardly a threat. So…?

"Sakura. You okay?"

"I'm fine Naoki. Just thinking is all."

"I can tell, but it seems like it's more than just about what Misa told you."

Sakura shook her head. "It's nothing."

Naoki looked at her pointedly, in a way that told Sakura he didn't believe her, but he didn't press it, only lied back down, pulling her to him.

"Get some rest then. Maybe it will help."

Sakura nodded, but knew sleep would not come easy to her that night. Her mind was too active about what this could all mean not to mention in a few days, whether she wanted to tell anyone or not, everyone would know about Misa's marriage to Syaoran.

* * *

Tsubame had decided that if there was one thing in the world she hated more than anything, it was the magic council. To be honest she hated councils and parliaments in general. Of course, it always depended on who occupied the seats at any given time. This council would probably think she was dangerous, a little too reckless, and perhaps had something up her sleeve. She wouldn't blame them for it though. She did have something up her sleeve and she was ambitious, never one to play by anyone's game or rules, and therefore it would make her a threat to the pathetic council, because her eventual ambition to become ruler, to be subjected to no one and nothing but her own whims would conflict with their own ambitions for the same.

The difference between them and the reason she hated them was that while she wasn't afraid to admit to her ambitions, the council hid their own ambitions behind the noble cause of the protection and prosperity of the magical world, to prevent it from dying out, to regulate it for their own protection more so than the mortals. It was the dumbest thing Tsubame had ever heard. The magical world didn't need protection from anyone. It wasn't going anywhere anytime soon despite the council's paranoia. But like everything else, their ambitions would serve her purpose. And the timing was all too perfect, what with the strong, sensible head of the council away to pay respect to the Meiling, Tsubame would play to the ambitions of the council and without their sensible leader, who understood the delicate skill behind maintaining control and power, they'd play right into her plan.

The council was obviously surprised to see her, for no one had sent word up to them that anyone wanted an audience with them. It was a bold move for someone to just waltz right into their conference room, and it also meant that not only was she powerful, but also a threat to their power.

Tsubame folded her hands in her kimono, waiting for them to address her. It didn't take long.

"Who are you?"

Tsubame smiled a little. "I think that's irrelevant considering I'm not in your carefully monitored records of magicians, sorcerers, and sorceresses. But don't worry. I'm not a threat and it works out better for both of us this way."

When someone said they weren't a threat, it was a red flag. Period. Not that Tsubame cared, because she was a threat to them regardless. However, she needed them to be curious.

"And if you're not a threat, what are you?" another asked.

"A friend I would hope," Tsubame said coyly, "especially considering that we want the same things and if we work together, I think we can make it possible."

They were wary of her now, but that was good. Being wary went hand in hand with curiosity.

"And what's that?"

Tsubame shrugged saying, "It's a shame isn't it? The chaos and anarchy right now in the non-magical world. And it's gotten so bad it's begun to spread to our world. I mean look at the Reed family. Wild bunch, aren't they? And the Li Clan won't admit it, but they're headed down the same road, toward this wild, anarchic, and chaotic society. But that's what happens when we let the non-magical world govern itself. We get chaos. Things weren't like this when we ruled. They didn't know what they were fighting against when they dethroned us in favor of their science, religion, and logic."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I think we can help each other get back to that, with us on top and everyone else subjected to us," Tsubame said and though it was technically true, it wasn't exactly quite the way she imagined her empire, but the fact of the matter was she had to get the council on board.

They all laughed silently at her and Tsubame smiled, not at all deterred as the one right in front of her said, "And how do you suppose we do that?"

"Start a war of course, a magical one with two of the most powerful families in the world. The Lis and the Reeds."

"That's impossible. They're allies, more than that, family."

"Exactly. The closer the ties, the bloodier the war, a war that will no doubt trickle down into the non-magical world."

"It's been tried before, and it's never worked."

"Until now," Tsubame said. "What if I told you that as of this moment, I'm about to create a rift between those two families that will be damn near impossible to repair? What if I told you it will most certainly and inevitably lead to the first war the magical world has seen since the dark ages?"

The whole council room was quiet and Tsubame could practically hear their thoughts-and if she so chose to could have easily done so-filled with apprehension, the risk that she might be lying and also the risk that she might be telling the truth and that if they sent her away, it might come back to haunt them later. Tsubame held back a smile. It was going to haunt them either way it went. The simple fact was though that getting next to the council would be much more fun. They would willing make her or anyone Tsubame chose to be their queen.

After they all exchanged a glance, the one who Tsubame guessed their leader left in charge, said "I think it would mean that perhaps we should discuss this a little more."

* * *

**AN:** This is late, but I was busy at home today and I'm actually a little sleepy as I post this. So whatever I might have had to say has gone from my mind about this story. So I'll just shut up.

Hope you enjoyed! And **Review Please** if you enjoyed the chapter or even if you didn't, for ff. net has made it so easy to simply put your arrow right in that big box that follows and type a quick review. I do appreciate the comments.


	15. Pieces

**Chapter Fifteen  
Pieces  
**

Naoki had to be in China sooner than Sakura was and so Misa didn't book them for the same flight. Personally, Sakura was glad. It meant she had the flight to think out how she was going to explain all this. She hadn't really lied. Actually, she had just hidden the truth for a while, for all of only about two days. So it wasn't lying what with all the time it took to get ready, she really didn't have the time to mention who Syaoran's wife was. She stared out the window of the plane in a daze for the duration of the trip, her thoughts too active for her to go to sleep during the four hour flight.

By the time they were off the plane, she still hadn't figured it out. Yue and Kero noticed. They did that thing where they exchanged a look, having one of their silent conversations on whether they should ask her what was wrong or not. She wondered if they knew she noticed those looks they shot between each other when trying to figure out what to do about her. They probably did, though they didn't make any further effort to be discreet about it.

"Something you want to tell us before we get to the estate?" Kero asked from inside her purse as they waited outside the airport for the ride Misa was sending.

"No," Sakura said staring straight ahead, refusing to look at any of them. "What makes you ask that?"

"You seem anxious," Yue said bluntly.

Sakura tried to laugh off how nervous she really was under their gaze. She hated when both of them ganged up on her, the rare times it seemed the two could get along.

"I don't know," Kero said with his arms crossed. "You seem to know something about this whole situation that we don't."

Sakura looked to Tomoyo for help, but the girl only shrugged and said, "I have to agree with them on this one. In fact, you seemed pretty familiar with Syaoran's wife when she called back."

"She's just open like that is all," Sakura said looking down at her feet. It wasn't a lie. Misa was definitely the type it was easy to get comfortable with.

Sakura made sure to pointedly avoid looking directly at anyone. If she were a more composed person in these kinds of tight situations, she might be able to fake ignorance of this entire situation, but there was no denying that she had spoken to Syaoran's wife over the phone knowing that it was Misa.

When their ride arrived, she sat by herself in the corner with her hands clasped in her lap. She was hoping the ride would take longer, but it went so fast and before she knew it, they were being driven onto the estate. When she said Misa standing waiting for them at the entrance dressed in the traditional style of a Chinese woman of the house. Sakura sighed as she got out the car and the woman ran up to hug her.

"Sakura!"

"Hello Misa," Sakura said, though not nearly as cheerful as Misa as she was very aware of and pointedly ignoring the looks she was getting from behind.

"Hello indeed," Kero muttered.

"What's she doing here?" Yue asked.

"She's Syaoran's wife," Sakura muttered as Misa instructed the servants to get their bags out the car.

She let it hang in the air while they waited; glad in the end that she had neglected to tell warn them about this before they got there. Knowing ahead of time would have given them time to discuss it and perhaps get angry with her. At least now, they had to act civil and could stew over it before they eventually confronted her.

"Okay. Your rooms are this way," Misa said beginning to lead the way.

Before she could even take a step someone said, "Misa, you're not supposed to be doing this."

Everyone looked to where the comment had come from to see Syaoran standing there with his arms crossed, giving Misa a pointed look. It didn't seem to faze her though.

"Well if it's not my job to greet the guests, then who is supposed to. Everyone else is busy. Wouldn't it be rude?" Misa asked going up to him and placing a chaste kiss on his cheek. "Besides. Sakura's practically family."

Syaoran looked between Misa and Sakura. "You two know each other."

"More than that," a new voice said.

Sakura yelped, having not even noticed Naoki slip behind her, as he picked her up off her feet by her waist.

Misa giggled softly. "Isn't it a small world?"

"Very," someone said coming from the direction Syaoran had.

Sakura jumped. "Eriol…" she said as she looked at him. "When did you get here?"

"Yesterday," he said smiling.

Sakura saw through that smile. She was in for it later; that was for sure. But she was going to avoid it as long as she possibly could and so turned to Misa, as best as she could with Naoki still holding her and said, "I don't mean to be rude, but it was a long flight and-"

Misa didn't even let her finish.

"Oh sorry. We'll all catch up later. Follow me."

Sakura wanted to stay close to Naoki and Misa, but somehow, she ended up behind the group, with Kero and Yue.

"Start talking," Kero said sighing patiently.

"What's there to say?" Sakura asked.

"You don't seem as surprised as the rest of us is all," Kero said.

Sakura didn't answer, only biting her lip in a gesture that told her guilt.

"How long have you know about this?" Yue asked her.

"I didn't know about the marriage until a few days ago, when she called me."

"And you didn't tell us this before?" Yue asked.

Sakura looked down at her feet. "It wasn't like I was trying to hide it. It was just that the opportunity to mention it didn't come up in the last two days. I was going to eventually tell you. Honest…"

She trailed off. She wouldn't have believed it if someone else had told her the same thing, so it was no use trying to keep up pretenses.

"Fine… Maybe I _was_ hoping I wouldn't have to tell you, at least before she told me about Meiling."

"And why is that?' Kero pried.

Sakura sighed said quietly, "Because I already knew what you were going to say."

It was one word. Tsubame. Neither Kero nor Yue got the chance to respond because Misa had stopped and turned to face the group.

"Alright. You all can pick any room you want in this hall, except that one," Misa said pointing to a door at the end of the hall. "That's Naoki's room."

As everyone went to find a room, Misa looked at Sakura and said quietly, "Sakura, I didn't know if you wanted your own room or…" Misa trailed off, glancing quickly at Naoki and then back.

Sakura flushed, putting a hand over her cheek, not missing the quiet huff of Yue behind her.

"You two will be fine in your own room?" Sakura asked Yue and Kero.

Yue grabbed Kero from her and went into a random room, wordlessly answering Sakura's question, while Sakura ignored the looks she was getting as Naoki led her to his room, pulled her inside and closed the door behind them.

* * *

Sakura had to face them sooner or later. It turned out to be sooner as Nakuru knocked on the door citing that Eriol wanted to talk to her. She left, muttering to Naoki that she would be back and followed the girl to the room. Tomoyo was there and so were Yue and Kero. Eriol didn't look displeased, just a little curious.

To her surprise, no one was angry, at least not Eriol. Then again, he didn't know she actually knew Misa and Naoki until earlier that day.

"_So that's the Misa and Naoki you all were talking about… Charming pair those two," _Eriol said and if Sakura didn't know any better, she'd say he was amused about something.

It was worrisome to say the least. Even Sakura was unable to turn a blind eye to how coincidental this was all starting to become, Kaho's words from years ago coming back to her head about there being no such things as coincidences, only the inevitable. But Sakura trusted her magic. If something were wrong with the two, if they had ill intention for her, she would have sensed it. The way she felt around Naoki and Misa was similar to how nice and tingly she used to feel around Kaho and Yukito, before she knew about Yue. That was if Sakura had to compare the feeling of course. It wasn't quite like when she was twelve, but there was something about the two that made her let her guard down and her feelings had never steered her wrong before.

In response to Sakura's comparison Eriol hummed and then said, _"Something tells me that we'll know something more about this before Meiling's funeral is over." _

And that was an entirely different matter. Eriol said he'd ask Syaoran more about it later, but he did know that Meiling hadn't been the target, that they had been after Syaoran according to the story. But something still didn't add up, particularly how their most likely culprit, Tsubame, fit into all this. No doubt she was the one casting and then hiding her hand.

The fact was they still didn't know what exactly was happening. They had a lot of pieces, but no connecting them besides the fact that they just knew Tsubame had to be involved and the only people who had seen her at all were Sakura, Yue, and Kero. With that thought in mind, Eriol decided to give Misa and Naoki the benefit of the doubt at Sakura's insistence, and Sakura was dismissed. Sakura was glad. It was starting to get uncomfortable and at the rate they had been going, this entire issue had been about to explode into a disagreement. Sakura was so eager to leave and go back to her room that she didn't notice Yue had slipped out behind her until he touched her shoulder, making where whip around with a quiet startled cry of "Hoe!"

Yue didn't react to her surprise only waited for her to calm down.

When she did, Sakura asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just came out here to tell you what no one else wanted to say because they don't want you to be hurt."

Sakura didn't quite like that tone, but she let him continue anyway.

"You need to stay away from Misa and Naoki."

Sakura had predicted that he was going to say that and while if he had said this when they were still at home, before they knew what they did, she might have called him out on his jealousy, she could see this had nothing to do with personal feelings. She smiled a little. Even when they weren't seeing eye to eye, Yue was always willing to set his feelings aside if something concerned her wellbeing. That didn't mean she agreed with him though.

"I don't see why. They've done nothing wrong that we can prove so far."

"Just because you can't prove it doesn't mean nothing's been done," Yue pointed out.

Sakura sighed. How was it that he always managed to corner her? Would she ever be able to get a word in edgewise with Yue?

"You are aware," Yue continued, "that if worse comes worst, with worse being that this is just one giant misunderstanding and worst being that Misa and Naoki have something to do with Tsubame, that it also means that one or both of them probably had something to do with Meiling's death, right?"

Sakura hadn't thought about that, her mind so cluttered with everything else such a scenario might mean. Besides, it wasn't as simple as just distancing herself from Naoki. Maybe she could for Misa, but Naoki was different. She loved him. The thought of parting with him now, when she was starting to become more and more comfortable with idea of him being part of a long life with her was hard to fathom, let alone consider. She felt like one of those girls on television, the ones who still loved their boyfriends anyway, despite the fact that they knew their lover had done something wrong or might have.

She looked down, not quite able to look him in the eye, not knowing how to explain her feelings without igniting a more personal conversation. Yue seemed to know how and tilted her chin up so that she was forced to meet his eyes.

"I rather you be hurt now than heartbroken later."

This definitely had nothing to do with petty jealousy, which was why Sakura was thinking she may just consider taking Yue's advice. Maybe a little distance wouldn't hurt. Speaking of distance, why were she and Yue so close? Why was she starting to feel that same tingling warmth in her that she felt when she was around Naoki?

"Sakura!"

Yue dropped his hand from Sakura's chin, and Sakura turned around to face Misa, hoping the blush on her face wasn't too obvious.

"Yes."

"Come with me for a moment. I have something to show you."

Sakura looked back at Yue who turned away from her, briefly looking at her out the corner of his eye before looking away. Sakura took that to mean it was up to her to decide. He wasn't going to hold her up.

So Sakura went to where Misa was and followed her to the other side of the estate, across the gardens to where the family living quarters were, and then to the woman's own room.

"Open that wardrobe won't you?" Misa asked letting her hair out its bun as she sat at her vanity and continued, "I hate this. I really do. Wasting all this time meeting and greeting and having dinners. It's our family that's mourning and though I understand the need to be polite and appreciative, I wish we could relax just a little."

By this time, Sakura had opened the wardrobe and gasped at the deep fuchsia silk kimono with gold obi on a manikin.

"What's this?" Sakura asked.

"You can touch it," Misa said turning around to look at her with a smile.

"Where did you get this?" Sakura asked touching the gold obi.

"A long time ago. It was the first one I ever bought for some occasion or another."

"It's beautiful."

"I thought you might like it," Misa said. "You can have it, if you want."

Sakura dropped her hand and whipped around to face Misa. "Hoe?"

"You can have it. I think it would suit you."

"But I can't just take this…" Sakura said trailing off as she stared at the gorgeous garment.

"Of course you can. I don't want it."

"But it must have been expensive."

Misa shrugged. "I suppose I'll let you think about it. You can give me your answer before you leave."

Sakura closed the wardrobe, nodding her head before starting out the room.

"Wait Sakura. Can you help me put this in my hair?" Misa asked holding up a decorative crystal comb with pink cherry blossoms adorning it.

"Oh," Sakura said taking the comb delicately seeing how fragile it was. "Where'd you get this?"

"It's been in my family for a while," she said. "It was given to our first matriarch by her lover as a token of his loyalty."

"He made it?"

Misa nodded. "It seems fragile, but so long as he's loyal to her it will never break or so the story goes. Put it right there on the side of my bun, will you?"

Sakura nodded and as she slid it into place, Misa asked, "Speaking of lovers, I trust everything's going fine with you and Naoki?"

"Oh yeah," Sakura said absently.

"Good. I was worried."

Sakura looked up from where she was putting the comb in.

"What makes you say that?"

"You seemed a little nervous earlier, and I happened to overhear Yue saying something about heartbreak earlier when I came to get you. Is everything alright?"

Sakura smiled fondly as she thought of Naoki, pushing away the concerns from before. To think that she had even considered distancing herself was appalling to her. She wouldn't have jumped into a relationship and had sex with Naoki if she wasn't sure she could trust him, wasn't sure that he had her best interests at heart.

Sakura finally laughed. "Of course."

Misa laughed herself. "Just making sure you weren't planning to break up with him or something."

Sakura secured the comb and said, "Trust me Misa. Despite what anyone says, nothing's going to make me let go of Naoki any time soon." That's what Sakura hoped anyway.

Misa was silent tilting her head as she looked in the mirror.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked upon seeing her curious expression.

"Nothing," Misa said absently and then added, "You better go. Naoki get's impatient rather easy. Don't make him come looking for you. You two haven't seen each other in a couple of days."

Sakura blushed as Misa winked at her and sent the younger girl on her way. When she left, Misa looked at the crest on her ring finger.

"Interesting," she said to herself. "So that's the way it works… I may not have to carry through with the rest of my plan at all."

"What plan?" Naoki asked appearing from behind her wardrobe. "The one that involved you marrying into this family to get power Tsubame?"

"Oh no. I still have use for that plan. It's the other part that I might not need, the part that has to do with hiding my identity for much longer. In fact, I don't need to at all anymore."

"Oh?" Naoki asked.

"Enough with subtlety I think. It's time to let everyone know just who's pulling the strings. There's just one more thing to do…"

Naoki crossed his arms and gave her an irritated look. "You mean to tell me after three and a half months of planning and manipulating you decide to throw your plan to hell because you're tired of being subtle."

"Of course not love. It just seems my plan is unfolding faster than I thought it would. And anyway, it served its purpose. Don't you see what I've done? I've caused chaos. I just have to wait for it to unfold."

"Would you stop playing around for once? Your game is starting to annoy me."

She laughed. "Of course it is. But if that's the case, go spend some time with your lover. She's waiting for you."

Naoki raised an eyebrow at her. Even after nearly three hundred years, he would never understand Tsubame. So instead of asking her and not getting an answer except one of her girlish giggles, he turned to leave.

"One more thing Naoki," she said, beginning to apply her lip gloss.

Naoki paused to wait for her to answer.

"Relax a little. I think this entire plan of mine is beginning to stress you out. You have a silver hair or two."

* * *

**AN:** So it's six in the morning, I have school in three hours and after that I'll be on the move. So it was either post now or never. Haven't had much of a chance to reply to anymore reviews being that I've had school work to do. But I did enjoy your reviews when I got them through my email on my phone. This chapter… Well, this chapter had some important clues to what's about to happen, some obvious and some not so obvious. God it's almost hurting me not to say anything, but only a few more chapters until we begin to see part of the totality of Tsubame's plan.

Hope you enjoyed! And **Review Please** if you enjoyed the chapter or even if you didn't, for ff. net has made it so easy to simply put your arrow right in that big box that follows and type a quick review. I do appreciate the comments.


	16. Party Crashers

**Chapter Sixteen  
Party Crasher  
**

"It's odd not having Meiling here anymore."

Sakura nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. Too quiet around here I bet," Sakura said jokingly.

Syaoran laughed at her, playfully shoving her in the shoulder from where they were, away from where everyone else was gathered. Meiling's funeral had been a very sober event, and to be quite honest, Sakura was glad when it was over so she could try to get a few words in with Syaoran. She hadn't seen him the entire time she had been there except for when they first arrived. But first Misa had dragged her off to meet the Reeds. Besides a slight surprise at hearing the name, Sakura wasn't all that interested in making what Misa called "connections," even if it would be to her benefit in the future to know the right people and what they could do for her. It was a few minutes into their conversation when Sakura noticed Syaoran slip off by himself somewhere and so she quickly excused herself to follow him resulting in them catching up on the last few years before.

"It has been," Syaoran said in a quiet tone.

"Sorry," Sakura said.

Syaoran nodded. "This entire thing is worrisome… I don't think it was just an attack on me. I think she knew something."

Sakura frowned. "Knew what?"

Syaoran shrugged. "I don't know. Probably something petty. She didn't like Misa much."

Sakura knew that, but Sakura found it hard to see why. Misa had the kind of personality where it was hard to find something not to like about her, even in her flaws. From what Sakura had seen of the woman, she never tried very hard to impress anyone. Misa just did. Misa always acted so flawless and natural, a person completely comfortable with herself. Surely that wasn't a crime. Even though Sakura had been annoyed with Misa's charm and flirty personality when she turned her attention to Yue, she still liked her.

"She had to have a good reason then. Misa's hard not to like."

"That's true… I just don't get it. I feel like I'm missing something. I get the feeling that maybe Meiling was the target… that she suspected something she wasn't supposed to and-"

Sakura touched Syoaran's are to get him to stop.

"What?"

"Do you sense that?" Sakura asked.

"Sense what?"

"Sense me."

Sakura had half the mind to wonder if something was wrong with her sight. For one moment, she swore no one was standing in her and Syaoran's line of sight and the next, Tsubame was standing there in her white face paint, red lipstick, and red kimono with gold obi. Sakura didn't remember blinking, so where had the woman come from.

"Who are you?" Syaoran asked.

"That's Tsubame," Sakura said before the woman could answer. "I told Meiling about her a few months ago. She wants to become a queen."

Tsubame hummed and said in that whimsical tone that almost made Sakura think she was joking, "Correction. I'm already a queen. I don't call myself the Immortal Queen Tsubame for nothing. I just want to add this world to my empire, and it's hard to do that when there's a powerful magic family in the way."

"So you're the one that killed Meiling?" Syaoran assumed.

"Actually, it was a friend of mine. I'm truly sorry about your loss of her," Tsubame said, but not in a mocking tone. If Sakura didn't know she was dangerous, she'd think the woman was sincere.

"What do you want?" Sakura asked.

Tsubame looked at Sakura and shook her head. "This doesn't involve you dear. I wouldn't want you to get hurt. Why don't you let us have a nice private chat? Hm?"

Sakura shook her head, releasing her staff to her hand as Syaoran also summoned his sword.

"Hm," Tsubame said. "The hard way then."

Tsubame held her hand out, a red and gold fan appearing in one of her hands. Tsubame seemed different from the first time she met her. Her aura felt more vibrant, like she had gotten back some of the power she said she lost. That alone made Sakura a little apprehensive. If she had been able to resist the magic of the cards before without all her magic, what could she do now?

"Syaoran," Sakura said. "Be careful. She's powerful. Not even the-"

It was too late. He had already attacked Tsubame with wind, but instead of moving out the way, Tsubame stood her ground and the attack again passed around her harmlessly.

"Is that all?" Tsubame asked. She sounded disappointed, like she was looking for a good fight, spurring them on even.

"Lightning."

Tsubame again didn't look the least bit bothered, although this time she did raise her hand in what Sakura thought was an attempt to deflect the lightning. But she didn't deflect it, nor did she simply endure the attack. Instead, she caught the attack right in her hand, somehow managing to contain the power of the attack with her own.

"Hm… You're just like everyone else Li," Tsubame said. "You're not really aware of the power you hold. Don't you have any sense of creativity? Let me show you."

Tsubame looked at Sakura again. "Sure you want to stick around?"

"Stop this!" Sakura said trying a different card from the one she used last time they encountered each other. "FIREY."

"Hm. It seems like you would have figured out that directly attacking me with your cards won't work on me," Tsubame said swiping it back with her fan and forcing FIREY back to its card form. When it was back in a shocked Sakura's hand, Tsubame said, "Now let me show you creativity."

Tsubame released the attack that had been aimed at her into the air and then a second later it returned as lightning bolts striking the ground and anything else that was in their path, including Sakura and Syaoran.

Sakura screamed as she jumped out the way and if the bolts of lightning randomly coming out the air didn't get anyone's attention, then her scream did.

"See what I mean?" Tsubame said when the attack stopped. "You've got to be more intuitive and creative if you want to stand a chance against me and that was just defensive. Let me show you a real attack."

She tossed her fan in the air, caught it in her hands and then cut the air with it, bringing it down in a fashion that reminded Sakura of the grim reaper bringing down his scythe. There was a pause, like the air stilled for a moment before it seemed to combust, kicking up the grass as it blew outward throwing both Sakura and Syaoran back.

"And that was something I came up with on a whim," Tsubame said. "Nothing nearly as special as my real talents. Now then, onto the real business."

Tsubame ignored where Sakura had fallen, with her fan in hand, and instead went to where she had thrown Syaoran who was using his sword to stand himself up.

"You know, that sword might be useless to fight me with magic, but it might at least work if you use it as an actual sword," Tsubame pointed out. "Come on give me a real fight. Don't make this easy on me. It makes it less fun."

Syaoran glared at her, raising his sword at her to which Tsubame smiled and said, "Atta boy."

Sakura stood up, having not received the brunt of the attack and therefore not as worse for wear as Syaoran. But she surely felt it. Tsubame was just as powerful as she had so claimed, but Sakura couldn't shake the feeling that she was only toying with them, like they were play things, like Tsubame may have been a little bored.

Tsubame scowled as she brought up her fan against Syaoran's sword and effortlessly threw him back.

"Hm… Perhaps the leader of the Li Clan isn't so great as the name that precedes him," Tsubame said. "What a disappointment."

Tsubame raised her fan for a final blow, but Sakura refused to allow that. She used her staff in combination with the power of sword to stop Tsubame's attack, but with much effort. Tsubame was strong for such a petite woman as she.

"Foolish girl," Tsubame said as she pulled her staff away. "You aren't my target."

"I won't let you hurt him."

"Hm… You'd needlessly risk your life for him, even when you aren't really in danger." Tsubame didn't wait for an answer. "I admire that. I would do the same for someone I cared for."

Sakura was surprised. Somehow, the fact that Tsubame was admiring her for something bothered her more than if the woman would have laughed or scoffed.

"But what you need to learn is when to retreat. It would be in vain to die for him when all I'm going to do is kill him after you're out the way. I'm more powerful than both of you combined. Your feelings would be better channeled if you just let him die and avenge him later."

Tsubame raised her fan again, but Sakura held her ground with her own.

"I suppose you leave me no choice then," Tsubame said striking down with her fan against Sakura's staff, but instead of trying to overpower her, she simple matched Sakura's physical strength before channeling what Sakura hoped was Tsubame's full magical power through her fan. Sakura screamed as it threw her back, and then to her shock her staff glowed a brilliant fuchsia before disappearing in shimmering pink magical residue.

"Wh-What?" Sakura stuttered.

"You left me no choice but to destroy it," Tsubame said dropping her fan to her side. "Such a weak staff was holding you back from your full potential anyway."

Tsubame started to turn back to Syaoran but looked up to her left in time to meet Cerberus' charge at her. Somehow Tsubame managed to get away, jumping back and landing neatly on her feet.

"I hate party crashers," Tsubame said.

"Sure," Cerberus said starting to open his mouth to let out a powerful energy ball at Tsubame.

"Kero! No!" Sakura yelled to stop him. "It's not going to work. She'll just turn it back against us."

"Good girl. You learn fast," Tsubame said to her and then turned her attention to Yelan who had come forward to face her.

"What's the meaning of this?"

"Exactly what it looks like," Tsubame said. "I want to destroy the Li Clan and none of you will stop me."

"How dishonorable of you to come here in our time of mourning?"

Tsubame shrugged. "It's none of my concern. I've got a job to do and I'll do it whenever I so please."

Tsubame disappeared and then reappeared in front of Syaoran whom Misa and Naoki were helping to stand. It briefly occurred to Sakura that if Misa were standing there, it was impossible for her to be Tsubame, but the thought left her as she saw Tsubame bring down her fan.

"No!"

It was Yue who stopped her this time, the force of his attack forcing her back and causing her to land on her side in the distance. Tsubame stood up, her elegant bun now in disarray. Her eyes landed on him, but instead of scowling in fury, she smiled in what appeared to be a fond gesture.

"People like you always know how to sneak up on me," Tsubame muttered.

"What are you-?"

"And I always knew the best way to distract people like you," Tsubame whispered in Yue's ear when she suddenly reappeared in front of him. She shoved him away from her to get her a better striking range with her fan and struck it across the top of his chest, before she shoved him away from her.

"Yue!" Sakura said rushing to him along with Cerberus, only for Tsubame to reach him first.

The woman raised her hand to touch where she had cut him, but Yue grabbed her wrist to stop her, fixing her with a glare that only served to make her laugh.

"Don't be like that love," Tsubame said using her other hand to trail a finger down his jaw line. "It wasn't anything personal. You were just in the way."

Tsubame leaned forward. To do what? No one was sure, but Cerberus had launched a flaming sphere of energy at Tsubame despite Sakura's warning not to, causing her to snatch her wrist from Yue and suddenly jump out the way.

Tsubame's amused expression turned into one that was at the worst frustrated annoyance at Sakura, Cerberus, and Yue.

"Someone's always ruining my fun."

She then glanced to the side to where the bigger crowd had been drawn, her target now obscured.

"Looks like I'll have to come back and finish the job later," Tsubame said and with that, abruptly disappeared, this time for good.

Everyone was quiet for a moment, unable to believe that this woman had disappeared as quickly as she had appeared and caused so much chaos in the span of what had to be minutes.

"Who was she?" Yelan demanded as she came to where Yue, Cerberus, and Sakura were.

"Tsubame," Cerberus said. "And to be honest, that's about all we know about her except that she wants to take over the world like every other evil sorceress."

"Tsubame?" Yelan said. "Why haven't I ever heard of a sorceress as powerful as she?"

"She claims to be from another world," Eriol said stepping forward and getting Yelan's attention. "I think maybe you and I should talk."

Yelan nodded about to follow Eriol until Yue stopped her.

"I took this from her. It might help," he said handing a greenish-black plastic looking bracelet with a tree blossoming with red flowers on it and some kind of crest.

Yelan took it, inspecting the item and then her eyes widened, ever so subtly. She grasped the item in her hand and turned to Eriol saying, "This conversation will have to wait."

She then swiftly left the area and with her departure the crowd began to dissipate.

Sakura sighed. "We better get you cleaned up," she said noticing the scar across the top of Yue's shoulder.

"It's fine," Yue said standing up. "I'll manage."

Sakura sighed starting to stand up herself and saying, "Stop being so-"

"What?" Yue and Cerberus asked looking back at her.

Sakura shook turned from where she had been inspecting something in the grass.

"Nothing. Let's… Let's go."

When they looked away, Sakura scooped something up off the ground and then followed them back to the estate.

* * *

Sakura bit her lip as she absently tended to the scar across the top of Yue's chest trying to broach the topic of the second item she found of Tsubame's that she had dropped. It was a decorative crystal comb with pink cherry blossoms adorning it; the exact same one Misa had showed her earlier. There was no doubt it was the same one, which could only mean one thing, the thing everyone suspected in the worst case scenario.

She could hardly grasp her mind around it. How could Misa and Tsubame be the same person? It just didn't make any sense. And Naoki….

"She wasn't joking when she said she was powerful," Kero pointed out. "If that's not her full power, we better hope she doesn't figure out a way to restore the rest."

"There's something about her," Yue finally said.

Sakura looked up from where she had been intently tending to Yue's wound.

"What about her?"

"I felt like I knew her from somewhere for a moment," Yue added.

"Knew her how?" Kero asked.

Yue paused before saying, "I don't know. It was something in the way she spoke, like she had me all figured out. You didn't hear the way she spoke to me. It was like she was talking to an old friend or…"

"Lover?" Sakura asked feeling that familiar irritating jealousy at Tsubame, the same she had with Misa. Sakura scowled. Considering they were the same person, it was understandable.

Kero laughed a little. "She's one hell of a sorceress if she managed to get Yue all flustered."

Yue shot Kero a sharp look. Sakura was only annoyed more. She wasn't in the mood to tease right now. How could she? Misa was Tsubame for goodness sake. She had fooled them all with no problems whatsoever. If she hadn't dropped her comb, Sakura would probably still be blind to it. Tsubame wasn't a fool. She covered her tracks well by creating the doppelganger of herself, not even Sakura would have been able to tell the difference.

Sakura paused in her thoughts for a moment… Tsubame wasn't a fool, which meant the woman wouldn't be foolish enough to even accidentally leave her comb at the scene of the battle. She would have noticed she had dropped it and if she was as powerful as she claimed, it would have been nothing to summon the item back to her. That meant that it was possible that Tsubame had purposely left the comb for Sakura to find. But that didn't make sense. Why would she do that? Why…?

"What's wrong?"

Sakura blinked out her thoughts and realized that though she was done tending to Yue's wound, she was simply standing there staring in a sort of daze.

"Oh," Sakura said shaking her head. "Nothing. Just tired."

"Doesn't look like it," Kero pointed out.

Yue was silent, staring intently at her. No, Sakura decided. He wasn't staring at her, rather a particular place on her, like he was looking for something; like the staff key that she usually kept on a necklace around her neck.

"Where's your staff?" he asked touching the place it normally rested between her breasts.

Sakura tried to bite back her blush, but otherwise didn't try to move his hand away from her. It wasn't like he was doing it out of some intimate gesture anyway. It was innocent, curious perhaps, but not intimate and warm like the way it would have been had Naoki been touching her there…

"Tsubame," Sakura whispered, trying to keep away the tears that were welling up in her eyes and hoping Yue didn't notice. "I think she destroyed it somehow."

The room became quiet, and it killed Sakura. She wished they would say something, anything to fill the silence. Silence meant she had to think about what all this might mean for her and Naoki. She just couldn't believe that this all might have been part of some elaborate plan to distract her or destroy her. Tsubame had said it herself the entire time. She hadn't wanted to hurt Sakura. She hadn't even wanted to destroy her staff. She just wanted her to step aside. If that were the case, then there was no way Naoki was going to betray her like she feared he might… Right?

"There's something else, isn't there?"

Sakura looked at Yue who was staring at her intently, his hand still on her breast, but in a more intimate gesture. He knew she was hiding something else, and while normally she might have spilled, she could see it in his eyes. He was hiding something else too. He wasn't telling something that he suspected about Tsubame, and he wasn't going to tell her.

"I'll tell if you do," Sakura said quietly and then deciding she had enough to deal with left the room. For what? She wasn't sure.

Sakura took the comb out her dress and looked at it. The best thing to do was probably to give it back to Misa and confront the woman but… Sakura looked down the hall to where her room was, to where Naoki was probably waiting on her. She made a split-second decision and went to talk to Naoki first. Then she'd figure out what to do about Tsubame.

* * *

**AN:** There's something about sixteen and seventeen year olds and it's that they always think they can take a situation into their own hands and deal with it without telling anyone who might be able to help. At least at first anyway. So we're getting close. Tsubame's practically revealed herself.

I have to admit, I almost decided not to update considering the last chapter got no reviews. But I figured I'd give me readers the benefit of the doubt and post anyway. I'm sure you'll all make up for it…

Hope you enjoyed! And **Review Please** if you enjoyed the chapter or even if you didn't, for ff. net has made it so easy to simply put your arrow right in that big box that follows and type a quick review. I do appreciate the comments.


	17. Coming to Terms

**Chapter Seventeen  
Coming to Terms  
**

"Was it all real? Or was this some part of her plan?"

Naoki had just come out of the shower, and was looking for a shirt when she suddenly came into the room and asked that of him. Normally seeing him like this, just out the shower with only a pair of jeans hanging loosely on his hips would have put Sakura in a terribly flustered and embarrassed state. But she didn't care about that at the moment. She just wanted the answer to her question. Sakura could tell she had surprised him coming in with such an abrupt question out of nowhere. He usually did that to her. At first, he looked confused and then he saw the comb as she sat it own on the dresser.

"Misa showed me this comb earlier," Sakura said. "She said it's been in her family for centuries. So how did Tsubame get her hands on it?"

"What do you think?" Naoki asked her, eyeing the comb in her hand.

Sakura shook head. "Don't try to manipulate me. I know what you're trying to do. Yue does it all the time. I want to know!"

Naoki sighed and then said grudgingly, "I'll admit, she probably has somehow calculated this into her plan… but to be honest, I don't know what her plan is."

Silent tears fell down Sakura's face as she said, "So it wasn't real. This is all just part of her plan?"

Sakura wasn't sure how Naoki crossed the room so fast, or maybe he hadn't, but it just seemed like it because she wasn't paying attention. Either way, he had pulled her to him, gently caressing her face and wiping her tears away with his thumb.

"You don't think it was real?" Naoki asked and then chuckled. "Trust me. Even Misa will tell you, it's hard for a woman to captivate me as much as you have."

"Sure…"

"Let's be rational here. As much as she belittles you, you're the only threat Tsubame has. So have you ever wondered why she doesn't want to hurt you, even when you obviously got in her way earlier?"

"I…" Sakura pondered this. It was true. Tsubame had even told her to leave and only destroyed her staff because she was forced to.

Naoki pecked her on the lips and said, "Because I told her not to… That and I think she's rather fond of your anyway. Regardless, I'm not in this because I'm forced to. I wouldn't string you along like that. I wouldn't have said I loved you if that weren't the case."

Sakura believed him, sensing a sincerity in his words that couldn't be faked. None of his past actions could be faked; his gentle caring, soothing nature, protectiveness even. People may call her a little naïve, but she knew sincerity, how to read the hearts of people. Yet she still got the feeling there was something else, something that he wasn't telling her or that she hadn't figured out yet about all this, something she was missing. But more and more, none of that mattered to her anymore. She didn't know what it was or why even, but there was something about Naoki that made her want to trust him, need to trust him.

"Where are you going?"

Sakura stopped halfway through the motion of grabbing the comb as she started to head to the door.

"To give Misa back her comb," Sakura whispered.

Naoki grabbed her by the waist to stop her.

"I'm not letting you leave here like this."

"Naoki," Sakura sighed. "Just let me got think for a while. I promise I'll come back."

Naoki ran his hand down her front. "Then let me give you something to think about. Let me reassure you," he said running his hand up the arm that was holding the comb.

"Naoki," Sakura whispered, quickly finding that the little resolve she had to begin with was fading. She really didn't want to leave. What she wanted was to throw caution to the wind and be selfish. She had finally found someone she could love, that she could be herself with and not receive a cold glare when she got too close, or a scowl that told her she was being ridiculous. Should she have to give that up?

"Sakura," he said in her ear, hiking her dress up and rubbing her legs.

"Naoki… My dress."

"It's ruined anyway," Naoki said and that was true. Sakura had damaged it in the fight (if she could really call it that) with Tsubame earlier.

"Naoki, please. We shouldn't…Tsubame…"

"You overanalyze things too much," Naoki said licking her ear, causing Sakura to not only shiver, but briefly muse that his comment was something she'd say to Yue. "But since you want to do that, let's analyze this. Why haven't you told anyone?"

He stopped, at least for the moment, trying to seduce her and simply held her there, one hand rested on her breast and the other on her stomach.

Sakura froze. She was hoping he wouldn't ask her that, because it would only force her to admit the simple truth and that was that she didn't want to tell. She wanted to keep it secret as long as she could and continue her affair with Naoki. She loved him too much to admit everything and end things where they were. It wasn't like Misa could keep hiding her tracks forever and Sakura was beginning to suspect the woman wasn't even trying anymore. She wanted everyone to find out. Would it be such a crime to do that so she could have these last moments until… Well, Sakura wasn't sure what would happen.

"Sakura."

"Hm?" Sakura said.

"I get the feeling you don't want to tell, do you?"

Sakura's silence was answer enough and she leaned into Naoki's embrace.

"I do love you, you know," he whispered to her.

"I know," Sakura said closing her eyes as he continued to caress her legs and though she allowed him, her own unconcern about what this meant, what her not coming forth with the truth about Misa and Naoki scared her. She didn't want to lose Naoki, but she didn't want to betray everyone else either.

"It's difficult isn't it?" he suddenly asked her.

"What is?" she asked not trying to leave anymore.

"To come to terms with your own selfishness, to realize what it means," Naoki said to her.

"Please don't," Sakura whispered. She already felt terrible enough about this as it was, incredibly torn. She could end all of this right now and go confront Tsubame or she could wait it out, for if Tsubame had been that careless, it was only a matter of time before everyone knew anyway, whether Sakura revealed the woman or not and that way, she could have _this_ moment. "Just…"

Sakura had never asked Naoki for it before, but he seemed to get the point, his hand travelling down her stomach gasped and slipping into her panties to touch her wet folds. With his fingers in the shape of a V, he rubbed her on the outside, carefully avoiding rubbing the sensitive swollen nub there and teasing her entrance, causing Sakura to brace herself on the dresser as she felt her legs give out a little. He stopped.

"Why did you stop?" she managed to gasp as he adjusted his hand.

"But I thought you said we shouldn't," Naoki said as he pressed a kiss at the back of her neck.

Sakura huffed and reached her hand down to grab his hand and push his fingers inside. Naoki complied, sliding his fingers inside and beginning to thrust them in and out her opening, while at the same time beginning to massage and squeeze on her breast through the fabric of her dress. Trusting that he wouldn't let her fall, she reached down and slid off her panties to give him better access to her. With the obstacle removed, he added a third finger into her, at which Sakura cried out in ecstasy. She could feel it coming, the release she wanted from him was almost there…

Naoki stopped, removing his fingers from inside her. He then lifted the hem of her dress, running his hands up her body, leaving a trail of moisture on her skin under the dress. Sakura enjoyed his touches. She really did, but that didn't stop her from being frustrated that he hadn't finished what he had started. Her heat now throbbed painfully with the need for release. So she reached up and grabbed his hand where it rested on her breast and tried to force it back there, but Naoki held his hand there firm and used his other hand to reach down and unfasten his jeans to release his member.

Sakura gasped in excitement as he pressed it at her entrance, while planting kisses on her neck and cheek and massaging her breasts at the same time. He wrapped his arms around her as he entered her from behind, starting with slow hard thrusts, that were becoming increasingly faster, forcing Sakura to lean her hands on the dresser so she wouldn't fall over as he relentlessly thrust in and out of her.

"Naoki," she panted trying to bite back a scream. "Keep going."

"I want to see your face," he whispered and Sakura nodded.

He stopped his thrusts, pulling out of her. She turned around and leaned her back on the wall next to the dresser. Naoki then lifted her up so that she could wrap her legs around his waist. Then he sat her back on his member causing her to gasp and cry out his name as she reached her peak first. While she enjoyed the high, he continued to thrust inside her faster, grunting as her walls continued to tighten their grip around him. When she had gathered some of her wits back, Sakura rested her arms over his shoulders and pressed her lips to his, forcing her tongue into his mouth. He grabbed her hips then, pulling them to meet his forcefully. Sakura tossed her head back and screamed that time, in sync with Naoki's own cry of her name as he reached his release inside her.

He leaned his head on her shoulder as they rested for a moment, Sakura's grip on his shoulder loosening as she leaned on the wall, legs still wrapped around him.

"Wow," she whispered after managing to catch her breath.

He slid out of her, kissing her once on the mouth before saying, "Are you alright?"

Sakura nodded, fingers tracing the lines between the muscles on his chest, as she said, "I'm fine… better than that actually," she added in a whisper, a light blush coming to her cheeks.

He kissed her again saying, "Just making sure. I can be a little possessive sometimes."

That was fine with her. She didn't mind, "belonging" to him so to speak. She needed and wanted him probably as much as he needed and wanted her. But this feeling wasn't new to her, not in the emotional sense anyway. She was rather familiar with it, and Naoki had only recently helped her fill that void.

Determining that she would be steady enough to stand to her feet, Sakura unwrapped her legs from around him and stood in front of him. As she did this, she became aware that during their tryst, his pants had fallen all the way down and he had stepped out of them, leaving him bared to her. She still couldn't get over how much she enjoyed seeing him naked. It embarrassed her, and Naoki took advantage of that every time.

"Enjoying the view?" he asked and Sakura flushed. He laughed and said, "Come here," while leading her over to the bed.

He sat on the edge of it and then sat her on his lap, thighs straddling him on either side. He took her hands then, kissing the back of them, which caused Sakura to moan and wonder when simply kissing her hands became so erotic. Then he took her hands and guided them down to his member which had hardened again. Sakura looked at him with wide eyes.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

Naoki kissed her again and then said, "Furthering your education."

He said it so casually, but the thought only served to embarrass Sakura. In the two and a half weeks or so that they had become intimate, Sakura couldn't bring herself to touch him there. What if she did it wrong? What if she accidently hurt him?

"Naoki," she whispered timidly, not able to meet his eyes. "I…"

Naoki chuckled, hands going under her dress, up her thighs and stomach and to her breasts before going back down.

Sakura whimpered in contentment as his hands explored her. He put his mouth to her ear, nipping on the lobe some before saying, "How is it you can still act so innocent when you're not?" he kissed her neck. "Stay that way for me."

He lied down, pulling her on top of him and saying, "Tell you what though. Why don't you take control this time?"

Sakura couldn't quite meet his gaze, hesitating to give him an answer.

"You don't have to be shy love," he said kissing her.

Sakura leaned into the kiss, thrusting her tongue into Naoki's mouth this time, effectively eliciting a moan from him. She ran her hands down his body, not sure what he wanted her to do, but figuring that if she enjoyed his touch so much, maybe he'd enjoy hers.

He did and so she pulled away from his lips, kissing her way down his neck, making sure to suck him, bite him, mark him as hers the same way he always did to her. If she belonged to him, then she would make sure he knew that the inverse was true. With that in mind, she made her way down to his chest, licking and kissing, memorizing the taste of him, letting herself become intoxicated by his scent. As she did so, her hands travelled lower to where his member was, poking into her thighs. She leaned back, looking at it for a moment before she hesitantly reached to touch it. She heard him hiss at the touch and then, setting the rest of her apprehension aside, Sakura suddenly grasped it with both hands and began to massage it. She ran her hand up and down, rubbing her thumb over the tip causing him to thrust into her hand. Feeling a little more confident now, she continued, with less hesitation this time. Finally, when it started to throb in her hand, she ran a finger teasingly up his length and over the tip, enjoying the way she could make him squirm underneath her.

"Sakura," he groaned.

"Hm," she said leaning over him.

He bumped his hips into hers in response and Sakura gasped, aware now of the wetness of her own arousal dripping down her thighs. And her dress, the one they hadn't bothered to remove earlier in their eagerness, was now clinging to her sweaty body. So first she grabbed the hem of it, lifted it over her head and tossed it somewhere before doing the same with her bra. Then she lifted up, guided his manhood to her entrance and sat herself on it rather hard.

They both let out a scream that time and when Sakura got a hold of herself, she began to lift up and down in a slow steady pace. It took her a while to find a rhythm and figure out how high she could lift without making him come all the way out of her.

"Try this," Naoki said surprise her when he grasped her hips to help guide her and show her that a combination of rocking back and forth would help her get adjusted.

Touched by his patience with her any trace of her timidity went away, replaced by a determination to find a way that worked for both of them. When she did, she was sure to reward him, raising and lowering as fast as she could to create that sweet, but also frustrating friction that would eventually take them both to a sexual high. She leaned forward to brace herself, breasts dangling in front of his face and as she continued rise and lower herself, he took one of them into her mouth causing her to momentarily stop her movements in surprise as she shivered in delight.

Naoki began to reach the point of no return first, but aware that she wasn't quite there yet, he began to rub the outside of her folds with his fingers, mouth moving to suckle her other breast. That combined with Naoki's touch sent her over the edge, causing her to scream and stop her movements as her inner walls tightened their grip on Naoki, juices flowing out of her. Her own orgasm spurred Naoki and he gripped her hips, raising and lowering her on him a few more times to finish as he started to come inside her.

She collapsed on top of him after that, eyes closed in contentment as they both rested and enjoyed the lingering sensations of their lovemaking. When they both got their breath back, Naoki kissed her and whispered against her lips, "Again?"

"Hoe?" Sakura said a little surprised. Hot and sweaty as she was, Sakura wasn't sure if the heat on her face was the result of their activities or a blush.

Naoki laughed, sitting up with her in his arms and saying, "Don't worry. I'll do all the work this time."

"That's not what I-oh!"

Naoki obviously didn't care what she meant, for he had taken one of her breasts in his mouth and how arousing that was, for she felt her heat pooling wetness again. He continued to lick, kiss and suckle both breasts, flipping them both over so that Sakura was lying on her back and he on top of her. He went back to her face, planting kisses on lips and cheeks as he said, "I want you to want me. Do you want me?"

Sakura nodded.

"I'm not quite convinced," he said rubbing the inside of her thighs.

"Naoki…" she moaned, bucking her hips. "Please! I want you!"

He kissed her neck, rubbing her entrance with the head of his member saying, "Are you sure?"

Her screaming his name was her answer and with that, he rammed inside her, hard. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer to her and wrapping her legs around his waist while her lips sought out his. It was wild and needy now, animalistic even, but neither cared. Both wrapped up in coming to a high together this one final time for the night.

"Sakura," he screamed as he started to reach his finish first.

"Naoki," she said in a daze. "Oh Naoki…"

She stiffened, her embrace on him tightening as she climaxed for the last time. She relaxed her grip after she came down and Naoki fell on her. Aware that they both were about to fall asleep though, he pulled out of her and lied next to her, reaching down to pull the comforters over them.

"Naoki," Sakura said sleepily.

"What?" he asked, his own eyes closed now.

"I know it won't happen," she said half alseep now. "But... I wish... I wish we could be together always."

* * *

**AN:** Don't even ask how half this chapter ended up lemony. I think that this was actually the longest lemon in the entire story save for one that might be at the end. I haven't decided on it yet though. Anyway. I've revised this chapter over and over and over and over in the last foru months. Three times about two weeks ago, so if it doesn't work by now, I don't know what will. And no, this isn't just pointless ex either but, we'll find that out in a couple of chapters. Someone said something about updating more often too. And I might find the time tomorrow, but of course, there is a catch and here it is:

**Reader Response Challenge: I'll be fairly reasonable. I think the most reviews a chapter ever got was six. So if my readers can do six reviews for this current chapter by midnight Eastern Standard US time, I'll post the next chapter on Wednesday, 9/12/2012 by noon. I'll give an hour grace period or so in case ff. net decided to be stupid about having this chapter visible, but that's it. So that means an extra chapter for the week. If not, see you all Saturday!**

So now I'm off to right a poem for class, knowing I'm bad at poetry, in twenty minutes. Me and my procrastination. Smh…

Hope you enjoyed! And **Review Please** if you enjoyed the chapter or even if you didn't, for ff. net has made it so easy to simply put your arrow right in that big box that follows and type a quick review. I do appreciate the comments.


	18. Misa's Confession

**Chapter Eighteen  
Misa's Confession  
**

She had never been particularly good at being the dutiful concerned wife, so Tsubame was relieved when she could excuse herself from Syaoran's side without looking too suspicious. No one would blame her if she wanted to get some rest, especially since in the morning she'd have to be right back up to confront Jonathon Reed with Yelan and Syaoran the next morning. In all honesty though, she wasn't tired. She simply had something else to attend to, someone actually; Sakura's moon guardian. This was going to be fun.

He was waiting for her in the hall, next to the door of her private room and when she came into his view she said, "Is there something you need Yue?"

He didn't say anything watching her with wary eyes, the tilt of his head telling Tsubame that he wanted to say something to her. When he still hadn't said anything by the time she reached him and her door, she raised an eyebrow and said, "Yes?"

"Your crest," was all he said as he looked at where the ring was on her ring finger, accompanied by her wedding ring.

"What about it?" Tsubame asked opening the door to her room and nodding for him to follow her inside. Yue seemed to think about it for a moment before following her inside. She closed the door behind her and undid the ties in her hair.

Finally, Yue said, "You're not fooling anyone."

Tsubame grinned. "I fool a lot of people at a lot of things. You'll have to get a little more specific."

As she said this, Tsubame could help but admire the view some. A man like Yue was a challenge she hadn't been presented with in a long time. It would have been all too fun to see if she could seduce him and though she would be risking Sakura possibly finding out, which might either work in Tsubame's advantage or ruin Tsubame's careful grooming of the girl, but the circumstances were entirely too tempting. So she approached him again, walking her fingers from his shoulder down his chest.

Yue stiffened just a little, but was undeterred for the most part.

"You and Tsubame have the same crest."

"And?" Tsubame asked knowing well how to deal with Yue's type. Trying to lie was pointless. So was trying to avoid the question or deny it all together. That was exactly what he wanted her to do so that in the end she'd be forced to admit the truth.

"Why?"

Tsubame laughed, resting her hand on the left side of Yue's chest, saying coyly, "I think the question is why do you think we have the same crest? That could imply a variety of things."

"I asked first."

"Then I guess we're at a stalemate," Tsubame replied knowing Yue wouldn't outright accuse her. He wanted to hear it from her mouth. He wanted her to admit that she was in fact Tsubame and had been sitting right under their noses, and it all boiled down to one reason. Despite his obvious jealousy of Naoki, he didn't want to break Sakura's heart. If he told her based on an assumption, an assumption that Tsubame might easily be able to disprove, he'd seem like the bad guy. But if Tsubame admitted it, that changed the game. It was actually selfish and selfless at the same time. Luckily Tsubame had already covered her bases in that area.

But Tsubame was unconcerned about that, deciding to allow herself a temporary respite from careful planning and covering her tracks. Messing with Yue was just too fun and she wanted to see how far he would allow her to go.

"You know, you and I are a lot alike," Tsubame said to him.

She had taken him by surprise by the abrupt change in her tone, not that he showed it much, but she had learned a lot over the years.

"I see it in your eyes," Tsubame said. "We have some of the same experiences and as a result, we're about half a step away from being completely psychotic. But we're not. The people around us… they ground us, because when people like me and you decide to care, we care deeply. That's why things hurt so much."

Tsubame giggled and then said, "Wanna help me out this dress?"

As she raised the hand that had still been lying on his chest all this time to touch his face, he grabbed her hand to stop him and said, "I know what you're playing at. It's not working."

"Why not? Think about it? You and I could make a dynamic duo. I could use more people like you to help me. What do you say?"

"Not interested."

"Loyal to a fault," Tsubame said dryly as she pulled her hand out of Yue's grasp. "Of course, if you were this easy to convince, I'd have no use for you. But while we're on the subject of loyalty, what's the point of being loyal to someone if they aren't loyal to you?"

Yue obviously had an answer for that and started to reply, but Tsubame didn't care to hear it and so suddenly closed the distance between them and pressed her lips to his gently. It was what Tsubame considered a chaste kiss, for it was nowhere near the way she really wanted to kiss him.

She pulled away and went to her vanity. "You don't have to answer that. It's just something to think about. Is there anything else?" she added as she began to undo the ties to her robe. "Even if there's not, you're welcome to stay and help me with this."

Tsubame looked back at him, smiling when she saw a flash in his eyes that said he might have been considering the invitation, but instead he shook his head and said dryly, "No thanks."

He left the room after that and Tsubame sighed. In a sense, she was glad he hadn't fallen to her charms because it might be counterproductive to her future plans. Yet part of her was disappointed. A kink in her plans might have been a risk she was willing to take for a night with Sakura's moon guardian.

* * *

Three centuries of being queen, manipulating diplomats, and playing politics to get her way, become queen in the first place, and expand her empire and Tsubame knew how to act and school her features into a mask that only showed what she wanted people to see. It was a good thing too. Otherwise, Tsubame wouldn't be able to keep herself from smirking and grinning at her handiwork. Leaving her bracelet had been genius. It wasn't just any bracelet with the Li seal and crest on it, but it was the exact one that belonged to Clow Reed's mother and given as a gift to seal the union and loyalty of the two families.

Therefore, it was a grave travesty for an enemy, the enemy who tried to kill their Clan leader, to have had it. It only signified one thing. Betrayal.

Tsubame wished she could have laughed at the look of surprise on Jonathon Reed's face when Syaoran and Yelan confronted him about it in front of the elders. He went so pale, he started to look gray. Alas, she had to put on a face, the face of the girl who had just married into the family and didn't quite know everything about the history and relationship between the Lis and the Reeds, who had just been clued in to its significance.

"I don't know where you got that from," he said.

"I think you do," Syaoran said. "Tell me, is this the first time you've encountered Tsubame?"

He would have been better off outright lying to them or even telling the truth and saying he had, but Tsubame had predicted Jonathon Reed well. Politicians ran in his family and so he did the political thing and avoided the question.

"You think I would betray you?" he asked.

The answer was yes, he had, but he wouldn't be dumb enough to just give an important relic and symbol of the Li and Reed's loyalty to each other like that. Tsubame had gotten that on her own.

"You're avoiding the question," Yelan said before Syaoran could point it out.

Jonathon sighed, seeming to rethink his answer to Tsubame, but the damage was already done. The truth of the matter was he hadn't answered the question the first time.

"I've encountered her once before."

"And?" Syaoran asked.

"She was interested in the relationship between the families, but I didn't give her that."

If he had just admitted that before, without prying, Tsubame was positive Yelan and Syaoran would have let it go, but now their suspicion was aroused.

"And why didn't you tell us this before?"

"She didn't seem like a threat. She wouldn't be the first to try to turn the families against each other."

Tsubame had to give it to Jonathon. That much was true. But no one had done it like she had and played to both families' weaknesses and apprehensions about each other. None of them had thought to use the very person that tied the two families together as the thing that would break them apart. None of them had been bold enough to outright confront one of the families, state their fears, and suggest outright betrayal.

"Not a threat?" Syaoran said. "I sensed how powerful she was before she even attacked. How could she not have been a threat?"

Tsubame decided to butt in now. It was crucial that she said something to quell Syaoran and Yelan now so that when she finally did reveal herself, the ensuing chaos and crisis would explode into a deadly feud between the families. It was just what she needed if she wanted her plan to go without a hitch.

"We can't just accuse them of something we have no proof of. For all we know, if Tsubame is as powerful as she claims, she could have found a way to forge it or even steal it," she said. "If she is our enemy and she really is trying to turn us against each other for her own gain, the last thing we need to be doing is fighting. We don't even know who she is."

Yelan, Syaoran and the elders couldn't argue at that and Jonathon Reed was quick to agree with Tsubame.

"The problem is where could we learn more about her?" one of the elders asked.

"This isn't the first time Sakura's encountered her or tried to fight her. I think she'd been looking into it with Eriol," Syaoran pointed out.

"The card mistress," Jonathon said not trying to hide his contempt.

"Get over yourself Jonathon," Yelan said. "It's done now."

Jonathon didn't say anything else, but it was obvious he wasn't happy. Tsubame was amused. This just couldn't get any better.

"Then perhaps she'll be willing to answer some of our questions this evening. I'll inform her," Tsubame suggested.

"I think we should bring her here to settle this right now," Jonathon said.

"At this ungodly hour? During the summer? She's probably not even awake yet," Tsubame said.

"To be honest, I don't think it can wait," Yelan admitted.

* * *

Now that she had experienced it, tasted it, Sakura wondered how she had resisted Naoki for so long before. She supposed it was nervousness and fear, apprehension. It was still there of course, but not because she didn't know what to expect. She just still wasn't used to being so vulnerable and exposed to someone, even though it was Naoki.

"_How is it you can still act so innocent when you're not…? Stay that way for me."_

Sakura blushed at the thought. He enjoyed her shyness and innocence and for some reason, she trusted him not to taint it. In fact, she had always trusted Naoki for some reason, and not just because he had been nice to her from the beginning. At the end of the day, as much as she was ashamed to admit it and heavens knew she had tried to convince herself otherwise, it all came down to the fact that he reminded her of Yue in some ways… except that Naoki was much warmer. Sakura pushed the thought out of her mind as she made her way over to the dresser to grab Misa's comb. She planned to take it back to her and after that… Sakura wasn't quite sure what she was going to do. Perhaps just returning the comb would be enough and then what? Sakura was pretty sure this was Tsubame she was dealing with, but how to deal with this knowledge now. She couldn't just let the woman go through with her plan, whatever her plan was. Meiling was already dead because of her and no telling who would follow. More than that, the revelation that she was Tsubame was going to ruin a lot of relationships. Sakura held in a groan. This was hard. It would almost be better if she did nothing at all…

"I can take it back to her if you want."

Sakura turned to Naoki, who had come out the bathroom fully dressed.

"That's okay," Sakura said. She had gotten up early to shower and get herself together with the thought in mind of returning Misa her comb. Naoki tried to convince her it could wait, but Sakura didn't want to.

Naoki then came up behind her and ran his hands through her hair saying, "You haven't cut it."

Sakura smiled a little. "I know. You said you liked it longer, so I thought I could suffer through the hassle of managing it."

"It suits you," Naoki said and then gathered one side to pull it back before taking the comb out her hand and securing the hair he had pulled back with it.

A knock on the door ruined the moment and Sakura went to answer it. As soon as it opened, the person, who turned out to be Misa (or Tsubame, but Sakura wasn't sure what to call her now), grabbed her hand and began to pull her out the room and down the hall in frustration. She was loud and the commotion caused Yue and Kero to peek out their room to see what was going on. Seeing Misa dragging Sakura down the hall, they began to follow.

"What's going on?" Sakura asked.

"Our family is about to go to war with the Reeds is what," Misa said, her casual tone greatly contrasting the gravity of her statement.

"You're kidding," Kero said coming to float next to Misa who shook her head.

"There's some pretty damning evidence that the Reeds are in league with Tsubame and they want to know what Sakura thinks about Tsubame since she's encountered and fought her twice," Misa added.

"I didn't really fight her," Sakura said quietly wondering if Misa was knew that she was aware of her identity or this was another elaborate act of hers.

"Doesn't matter. You probably know more about her than any of us do."

Sakura wondered if Misa knew how true that statement was, but didn't say anything else as Misa led her to a small canopied area in the gardens where Jonathon Reed, Syaoran, and Yelan were waiting.

"Took you long enough," Jonathon said.

"Always impatient," Misa said in response as she stepped aside so that everyone could see Sakura who was now nervously standing between Yue and Kero on her left and Naoki on her right.

"What's going on?" Sakura asked.

"Tsubame is what," Syaoran said. "Can you tell us everything you know about her?"

Sakura opened and closed her mouth before looking down at her feet, wondering what she should say. She really wished she had gotten the chance to return Misa's comb so that she could have least confronted the woman in some way, to find out her true intentions. Wow, this was hard. Sakura started to say something until Jonathon pointed at something on her.

"That comb."

Sakura reached up to touch her hair, feeling the crystal comb in her head. She had forgotten that Naoki put it there.

"I saw that comb on Tsubame," Jonathon said. "Where'd you get it?"

Sakura glanced at Misa whose face was now set in a concerned frown.

"Tsubame… She dropped it yesterday."

"If that was the case, why didn't you tell anyone you had it?"

"Now wait a minute. Just because you're in trouble doesn't mean you have to go accusing Sakura," Syaoran said to Jonathon.

"But it is a good question," Yelan said.

"Wait a minute," Kero said. "You can't possibly think Sakura's Tsubame."

"Maybe not. But she still has the comb, and she didn't mention it," Jonathon pointed out.

Sakura looked between Misa, Syaoran, and Jonathon. Perfect. Now she was about to get dragged into the middle of a feud.

"This is crazy! Sakura was the one who got in the way when Tsubame tried to kill me. Tsubame even destroyed the staff," Syaoran said but seeing that neither Yelan or Jonathon planned to let up, he turned to Sakura and said, "Would you please just explain why you have that comb?"

"I-I found it yesterday when Tsubame dropped it. I kept it because I thought I had seen it somewhere before," Sakura said biting her lip as she tried not to look at Misa, who was looking between Sakura, Jonathan, and Yelan in concern.

"Where was that?" Yelan prompted.

"I… It was…"

"It's my comb," Misa suddenly said stepping forward to take the comb from Sakura. "She saw me with it. I showed it to her."

Sakura looked at Misa in surprise, but she wasn't the only one. Yue and Naoki were giving her the same look of surprise, that she would claim a comb that they had seen Tsubame with.

"And why would Tsubame have your comb?" Syaoran asked after a long pause as everyone looked at Misa.

Misa was didn't falter though. In fact, she didn't look at all bothered by the way everyone's eyes were on her. Misa's eyes were in Sakura's direction in fact, and for a moment, Sakura thought the woman was going to call her out. But then Sakura realized Misa's gaze was on Yue, who was rather pointedly avoiding looking at her.

Then finally Misa's eyes went to Sakura and the woman said, "Maybe Sakura can answer that question."

Sakura was silent, wishing she could be as unfaltering as Misa now that everyone was looking at her. What was Misa trying to do? Did she want Sakura to call her out or was this some type of test?

"Sakura."

She jumped a little hearing the sound of her name, not from one person, but two yet it sounded like one person. It had been Yue and Naoki, but until now she hadn't been aware of how alike they sounded, not just the way they said her name, but with the same smooth and quiet tones. She turned to look at both of them, the two having glanced each other upon realizing the other had said it. Before Sakura could make anything of it though, Misa turned her eyes back to Yue.

"Better yet, why doesn't Yue help her?"

Only Sakura and Kero noticed the way Yue flinched a little and with that Kero said, "That's it. What do the two of your know that no one else does?"

"Misa…" Sakura muttered.

"She has the same crest as Tsubame," Yue said cryptically.

It could have meant a multitude of things really. Many smaller families had similar or even identical crests because of branches, ties of marriage, and lines started by estranged family members, but being that the situation was as tense as it was, everyone's mind went to the worst two conclusions.

"You're related to Tsubame?" Syaoran asked Misa.

"Not exactly," Misa said. "Although that would be a good story, but it's pointless to lie about it. My cover's been effectively blown anyway. Guess the cat's out the back Jonathon."

"What are you talking about?" Jonathon asked.

"You mean you didn't recognize me?" Misa said and then took a step back so everyone could see her. And then suddenly, just like she had all of a sudden appeared in front of Syaoran and Sakura days ago, there Tsubame was, in her complete red and gold garb, white face paint and all.

No one could hardly believe it, that she had revealed herself so easily when she could have used the same effort and power into continuing to hide her identity as she had done in the first place.

Then she stated the obvious, effectively silencing the doubt that anyone might have had.

"I am the Immortal Queen Tsubame."

* * *

**AN:** This is one of those chapters that went through a lot of editing ahead of time and so today I read through it once and decided to post it because I really won't have any time to do it later. We're getting close to one of the climaxes of the stories. It's not the main climax, but a climax nonetheless. So anyway, I'm sure you all have a lot to say.

Hope you enjoyed! And **Review Please** if you enjoyed the chapter or even if you didn't, for ff. net has made it so easy to simply put your arrow right in that big box that follows and type a quick review. I do appreciate the comments.


	19. Behind the Guise

**Chapter Nineteen  
Behind the Guise**

Sakura could tell Tsubame was enjoying everyone's reactions. Sakura wasn't exactly shocked herself, just a little surprised to see what she had already figured out and strangely, it appeared Yue had figured it out sometime in the last twenty-four hours himself. Naoki on the other hand just appeared to be trying to gauge what Tsubame was trying to pull while everyone else was definitely shocked and Syaoran… Poor Syaoran. Tsubame had really fooled everyone.

"I love this part," Tsubame said folding her arms inside the sleeves of her kimono.

"You're Tsubame?" Jonathon asked.

Tsubame laughed. "I told you I had close ties to the family. That's why it would have been so easy for me to help you put the Reed family back on top. Alas though, that didn't go quite like I planned. I meant to give you back the bracelet when I failed the second time but…"

"So you did betray us," Yelan said rounding on Jonathon.

"No… It wasn't like that. I didn't give her the bracelet."

The bracelet was irrelevant now though.

"You remember. It was part of our deal… Whatever I wanted," Tsubame said summoning the said bracelet right out of Yelan's hand to put back on her wrist, not that Yelan seemed to care. "Looks like my work here is done… well, not quite."

Tsubame's eyes landed on Syaoran. She stared at him for a moment and then summoned one of her fans to her hand with the turn of her wrist.

"Tsubame! No!" Sakura said realizing what the woman was about to do, but unable to do anything without her staff, not that her magic worked on Tsubame anyway.

Both Yue and Kero sprung into action then and upon seeing the two charging for her, Tsubame sighed saying, "Must I always be interrupted."

That said, she jumped out the way and used her fan to create a shield that absorbed both Cerberus' and Yue's attacks. As soon as it was clear, Tsubame disturbed the air with her it creating dangerous wind gales that threw both guardians back.

"She wasn't kidding when she said she was powerful," Cerberus said.

"There's more where that came from," Tsubame said.

"What are you doing?" Yelan demanded.

"Fulfilling my end of the bargain with Jonathon. I never go back on my word," Tsubame said fixing her gaze on Syaoran. "Now you can either let me do it or get out the way."

"You can't possibly take us all," Cerberus said.

"I wouldn't bet it," Tsubame replied disappearing. Then she reappeared in front of Syaoran who raised his sword at her, seeming to gain some wits back about himself now that she was attacking him again. But Tsubame wasn't deterred and instead used her fans to not only block the sword, but disarm Syaoran.

"Magic's not my only skill," Tsubame said and then sensing an attack from Yelan behind her, she turned around and brought the fan down in a heavy sweep, causing flames to erupt between Tsubame and the attack. The flames absorbed the magic and then dissipated, leaving Tsubame nowhere to be found.

"Where did she-"

Yelan collapsed on the ground from Tsubame hitting her in the back from behind.

"Now that she's out the way…" Tsubame trailed off to look at Syaoran, summoning her staff again and then charged at him with it.

"No. Tsubame, you can't," Sakura suddenly shouted and then did the unthinkable and got in the way of Tsubame's attack. But instead of continuing on and eliminating the obstacle in her path, Tsubame shocked everyone and paused her attack, looking rather amused. Then she looked at Naoki and said, "You were supposed to make sure she didn't get in the way."

Naoki made his way over and said dryly, "She surprised me."

Tsubame smiled and then looked past Sakura to Syaoran and said, "This is the second time you've gotten in my way of killing him… Alas, I don't really need to anymore. I already have what I want."

Tsubame then dropped her fans at her side. "I'm done here. Time for phase two. Let's go."

Tsubame turned around, beginning to walk away from the chaos she had caused.

Naoki looked at her and then sighed as he turned to Sakura and muttered, "Sorry."

Sakura looked down at her feet, aware that everyone was looking at her. "I know."

Naoki began to follow Tsubame to wherever she was going, but then Tsubame stopped and said, "Naoki, don't be silly. Bring the girl."

It wasn't that Tsubame's comment was particularly shocking, but the way she said it, as though this was what she wanted to happen and was going to make happen from the beginning was what surprised everyone, even Naoki.

"What?"

"She was always part of my plan. I can do this without her, but you seem to like her a lot. I'd never force you to part with someone who you so obviously care for. Now hurry up. I sense we'll have a bigger audience soon, and I don't want to be forced into doing something I regret," Tsubame said.

For a while no one, not even Naoki did anything. He only looked at where Sakura was, now flanked by Yue and Cerberus. He took two steps forward and in the blink of an eye, both Yue and Cerberus had charged at him.

Naoki took the brunt of both their attacks, flipping in the air and landing on his feet.

"Damn it," he said. "This would be a much more even playing field if I had all my power."

"Why don't you try it and see?" Tsubame suggested backing out the way.

"No!" Sakura yelled. "Stop this."

Naoki rolled his eyes at Tsubame, but took her advice anyway and raised his hand to try to summon his power. To his surprise, it was immediately enveloped in a dark crystal blue aura. He glance at Tsubame who only smiled and then with a smug smirk of his own he made his way to retaliate. Like Tsubame, he was fast. Neither Yue, Sakura, or Cerberus were able to comprehend that he had moved before he reappeared in front of Yue and Cerberus and brought his hand up in an uppercut.

Seeming to have predicted his movement, Yue moved out the way, but Naoki hit Cerberus, sending him flying back and managing to cut him across the side.

"One down, one to go," Tsubame said in amusement.

"Stop it! Stop him," Sakura yelled at Tsubame. "Why are you doing this?"

Tsubame looked at Sakura, acknowledging that she was aware the girl was talking to her, but otherwise didn't respond as she turned back to look at the battle where Yue had taken to the skies, seemingly trying to take advantage of the fact that Naoki couldn't fly. But Naoki wasn't deterred by it. His blue eyes glowed with his magic and a mist gathered in the air, an ice cold mist that eventually solidified and became daggers that went flying at Yue.

No one could have gotten out the way of that move, even someone who was as skilled at maneuvering in the air as Yue, and the dagger caught Yue's right wing. As he fell out the air, Naoki was prepared, his hands already encased in his magical aura. With one hand, he snatched Yue out the air by the neck and with the other he prepared to land a fatal blow.

"No! Stop it!" Sakura yelled starting to run to try to intervene, not that she would get there in time.

"Naoki. That's enough. You don't have to fight for her."

Tsubame's voice effectively ended Naoki assault, and the man dropped Yue as his feet, the midst fading and the aura around his hand disappearing.

"Yue," Sakura said running to kneel beside him, but Naoki blocked her way.

"I wasn't going to kill him," he whispered. "Killing him would have hurt you."

"But why…?"

Tsubame had made her way over again by that time.

"He's telling the truth. If that was his intention, he would have been dead already. Naoki never misses," Tsubame said. "We don't want to hurt you."

Sakura thought she might be being naïve, but she believed Tsubame. And it had nothing to do with whether sincerity was present in her voice. If they had wanted to hurt Sakura, wanted to get her out the way, they could have done it by now. Tsubame had plenty of opportunities and had decided not to. But it didn't make sense.

"Why though? Why… I'm a threat to you. I'm in your way," Sakura said letting her tears spill. This was all so… so confusing.

Tsubame laughed at that. "Hardly. But I do need your help to establish my empire. I can't rule two worlds by myself. I need someone who will be able to rule. I need someone who will be willing to put on the guise of the Immortal Queen, and there's no one better to do that than you."

"You're insane. Sakura would never want to help you."

Tsubame looked past Sakura and Naoki, turning her gaze to Cerberus, but didn't look upset, only mildly amused.

"I know more about Sakura than both of you combined," Tsubame said turning her eyes from Cerberus and looking at Yue who was now leaning on Cerberus. "Everything I've planned and set in place, I've done with her in mind. This was just the first part of it. But to move on, it's time she takes a more active role. What do you say Sakura? It's all up to you. I can fulfill your every wish, your every desire and you won't have to give up on your love."

Sakura didn't dare even try to say a word. Tsubame spoke as if it were so easy, as if this were a no brainer and to be honest, it was.

"I can't… I can't…"

"Why not?" Tsubame said and then smiled. "You've already chosen."

"No I haven't. I haven't…"

"Yes you have. You know this person that can give me permission to have my full power? They call him the master of magic where I come from," Tsubame said. "It's just a fancy name for the one with the most magical potential and all along it's been you. It's you who has the power to return me to my full strength and you did."

"What's she talking about?" Cerberus asked Sakura.

"I don't know," Sakura said shaking her head. "I didn't… I didn't even figure out who she was until yesterday."

"Exactly," Tsubame said. "Don't you see? You made your choice when instead of doing what you though your friends would want you to do and tell them what you knew, you went and spent the night with your lover, knowing he was your enemy's guardian."

Sakura suddenly felt sick. How could she have…?

"Oh God… I… I…" Sakura looked down, trying to hide her tears, but they were visible anyway and she sank to her knees.

"There, there," Tsubame said kneeling down and wiping Sakura's tears. "You've betrayed no one. In fact, not doing what you did would have been betraying yourself."

"What?" Sakura asked looking up at Tsubame.

"Think about it," Tsubame said standing and creating distance between herself and Sakura. She gestured for Naoki to stand next to her. "I've given you all the pieces. You already know."

"But I…"

"_Naoki has a necklace like that."_

"_Of course he does. It's my family crest."_

"_Crest?"_

"_Yeap. You'll have one just like it one day."_

Sakura thought at the time that Misa was just saying that Sakura would have a crest too, but the more she thought about it, the more Sakura realized that Misa had been saying that Sakura would have a crest exactly like Tsubame's.

"You're…"

"I think you need a little help figuring it out. Why don't I show you my true power?"

Tsubame then held out her hands as if to receive something out the now cloudy sky. Lightning flashed and thunder boomed, but there was no rain. However something bright started to descend slowly out the sky, a shining light falling into Tsubame's waiting hands.

When the light faded, Tsubame held the item so that Yue, Sakura, and Cerberus could see the front.

"Familiar? Isn't it?" Tsubame asked.

Familiar was right. For in Tsubame's hand was a pink and gold book with the name _Sakura_ written across the bottom.

"Sakura!"

Sakura was in such a stupor that she didn't notice Tomoyo call her name as she came up to them with Eriol, Ruby Moon, and Spinel Sun.

"Sakura, are you okay? Eriol said something was wrong…? Sakura, why does she have your cards?" Tomoyo asked upon seeing the book in Tsubame's hand.

Yue answered for her. "Those aren't…"

To answer everyone's question, Sakura summoned in her lap the Sakura Book, her Sakura book, identical to the one in Tsubame's hands.

"Now that I can access my full power, I think it's time you all learned the real face behind the guise of Queen Tsubame," the powerful sorceress said closing her eyes and letting go of her guise as the powerful queen while simultaneously, a pair of white wings engulfed Naoki.

After both their transformations were done, in Tsubame's place was a woman identical to Sakura, long brown hair flowing in the wind and dark green eyes twinkling in amusement. While she was older, she still looked like she was barely out of her teenage years. And standing next to her was her guardian, long silver hair pooling at his feet, large white wings, and violet eyes staring down at Sakura apologetically. He had he arms folded into his red and gold outer robes.

"Feel better Naoki?" Tsubame asked turning to look at her guardian.

"I haven't decided," he replied to her.

Sakura's mind was swimming. How could this be? How could it be that all this time, Tsubame was just herself and Naoki… Naoki was Yue. It explained why she felt all the same emotions when she was around Naoki, always compared him to Yue, why they said her name the same way, and why they had the same scent. But still, the differences between Naoki and her Yue had been enough to throw Sakura off and dismiss their similarities…. Her Yue, Sakura mused. That meant that Naoki was Tsubame's Yue.

Naoki then glanced at Tsubame's Sakura book.

"You might want to…"

"Oh. That's right," Tsubame said tapping the back of the book. "Time to wake up."

The book glowed and a golden light came out of the back, taking form on Tsubame's left side and materializing into a beast identical to Cerberus. He growled.

"It's about time Tsubame," he said in annoyance.

"Now don't be like that," Tsubame said running her hand through the fur on his head. "I couldn't help it."

"Sure…"

"I missed you too Leo."

"How many times have I told you not to call me that?"

"A lot in the last three hundred years," Tsubame said with a giggle and then hugged the Sakura book to her. "I missed the cards too."

"I don't understand…" Tomoyo said. "Is that a future Sakura?"

Eriol shook his head. "No… I think she's an alternate one."

"You always were able to figure things out like that quickly," Tsubame said to Eriol.

"An alternate me?" Sakura asked.

Tsubame nodded. "Of course I'm an alternate you. I certainly wouldn't go back in time to change my past. Besides, it's almost impossible to travel against the flow of time. But to travel to a parallel flow…"

"A parallel flow?"

Everyone turned to Cerberus… the one standing next to Tsubame. Leo, she had called him.

"Is that why me and the cards were stuck in some kind of limbo?"

"It was a collateral of sorts until I got this one's permission," Tsubame said nodding her head to Sakura. "Naoki did a great job with that without even knowing it."

"Tsubame," Naoki growled at her. "I told you…"

"Since when have I ever listened to you?"

"Hardly ever," Naoki admitted.

"Exactly."

"Wait a minute," Leo said looking between Sakura and Naoki. "Are you telling me that…?"

Naoki only nodded.

Leo sighed. "This is what happens when I'm not around to keep you two out of trouble… You both have a lot of filling in to do."

"And we will," Tsubame said. "As soon as we're done here."

"What's stopping you?" Leo asked.

Tsubame shrugged. "I was trying to give her a chance to admit what she really wanted but, I'm growing bored of that. I think I've traumatized the poor girl."

That said, Tsubame opened the book and took a card off the top.

"Perfect," she said and then flipped the card around for everyone to see. "SHADOW."

The card released, but Tsubame had grown out of shouting her commands anymore. The cards were in tune to her will and always knew exactly what she wanted. So Shadow created a black shadow underneath Tsubame, her guardians, and Sakura, swallowing them into the shadows and causing them to disappear.

* * *

**AN:** This is the chapter where stuff got twisted, which was why I warned everyone when I wrote this thing that it would be weird. And you all were worried about the progression of Yue and Sakura's romance... Hehehe. So tell me, how many of you saw that coming and how many of you were shocked? I know one certain reader hit it right on the nail in the first chapter and I almost threw my phone across the room, so my job became mislead everyone, but drop hints where that was going. Trust me. This didn't just come out of the blue either. I dropped some hints every now and then so go back and read the chapters or I'll just tell you now that I can. God I feel better now. I can reply to reviews better. Of course, this isn't the only big secret, but we'll see.

Hope you enjoyed! And **Review Please** if you enjoyed the chapter or even if you didn't, for ff. net has made it so easy to simply put your arrow right in that big box that follows and type a quick review. I do appreciate the comments.


	20. Arc II: Differences

**Love Always Arc II  
**

**Chapter Twenty  
Differences  
**

Naoki was always angry with her for some reason or the other. It was just the way their relationship worked. But this time his anger was different and perhaps rightly so, Tsubame thought to herself. It was rather amusing really, to see her moon guardian so smitten and in love with this alternate version of herself.

"What else was I supposed to say? It was the truth," Tsubame said in reference to her comment about allowing Naoki's relationship with Sakura for the sake of getting the girl on their side.

"It makes it sound like I used her."

"But you didn't. It just sort of fell into place. How could I not take advantage of it?"

"You didn't have to tell her."

Tsubame tilted her head a little at his tone. It was the tone of concern he usually reserved especially for her, or at least it used to be during a time when she actually needed his protection. She dismissed it though and said, "Why? Because you don't want me to hurt her? Naoki, love, you've already done that yourself."

Naoki glared at her, but she could see that he agreed with her in his eyes. Of course he had to agree with her. While Sakura probably feeling used was mostly Tsubame's fault, Naoki couldn't deny that this wouldn't have happened if he had been a little more honest in the first place, not that he had really lied, just neglected to mention certain things.

"Don't worry. You can still fix it. And I think she'll feel better once she figures out that she and I aren't even remotely alike," Tsubame said to him.

"I'll say," Naoki muttered.

"Why must you always hurt me so?" Tsubame said feigning hurt. "It's funny really. You never minded when I messed with and hurt your other lovers, if they were around long enough for me to play with at all."

"Just leave her alone," Naoki said quietly.

Tsubame laughed. "You're almost as protective of her as you are of me." She paused, emerald eyes boring into him pensively before she said as an afterthought, "You've never been away from me this long Naoki. I'm actually starting to miss you."

"Jealous?"

"Never of myself."

Naoki smirked. "You know, if you miss me so much, all you have to do is say so."

"I know, but you know I hate sharing," Tsubame said standing from the bed in the room of the temple she had chosen and making her way to stand in front of him. "When you do come back, I want to consume your entire being, your every sense. It would be a shame if I managed that and made you neglect your new lover… A shame and counterproductive to my goal."

He gave her that warning look, that protective glare that he usually reserved for people who were a threat to her. She never thought she'd be on the receiving end of it. Tsubame still smiled, undeterred as she went over to a wardrobe in the room and took out the fuchsia kimono with gold obi that she had offered Sakura earlier that week.

"Take this to Sakura for me. She needs more fitting attire," Tsubame said handing it to him. "She should be up by now. Why don't you help her into it? Send her to me when you're done."

Naoki looked at her and raised an eyebrow in question.

"Don't worry. I just want to have a talk with her, woman to woman."

* * *

Sakura woke up to cold and if there was any way to effectively make her wake up, it was to be cold. So she sat up looking around for a window that might be open. She found a window. It wasn't open. Where was she anyway?

"I see you're finally awake."

Sakura didn't jump, for she had sensed his presence earlier.

"_Kero-chan_."

He cringed at that. "Wow. Haven't heard that in a while," he said dryly. "Try again."

He looked like Kero in his true form, but he didn't sound like _her_ Kero. That's when she remembered everything that had happened with Tsubame, how the woman had revealed her true self, the person underneath the white painted mask of Tsubame. Now what was it that Tsubame had called him?

"Leo."

He rolled his eyes. "I don't like that name too much either, but it's better than _Kero-chan_, that's for sure."

"Leo?" Sakura said, her curiosity getting the best of her. "Why does she call you that?"

"Because Cerberus takes too much energy to say according to her," Leo replied. "I hated both, but it was either Kero-chan or Leo because I'm a maneless lion according to Tsubame."

Tsubame, Sakura thought to herself. Where was the sorceress anyway? Where were they period? When she asked Leo he sat on the floor, crossed his front paws and sighed.

"We're in some ancient, long abandoned, and forgotten Buddhist monastery temple that Tsubame thought would be ideal to hide in. She's always been good at finding places like this."

"It must be in the mountains," Sakura said. "It's so cold."

"It is," Leo gave. "As for where Tsubame is… she's probably trying to quell Naoki's anger with her without resorting to having to restrain him."

"Restrain him?" Sakura asked alarmed.

"Relax. I was kidding," Leo said again in a dry tone that Sakura though was weird considering Kero was always light and playful when he spoke. "They're always angry at each other about one thing or another. It's nothing new, although what he's angry about is new."

Sakura paused for a moment, wondering if she should ask, but seeming to read her mind, Leo said, "Apparently he and Tsubame had some kind of understanding that she wouldn't involve you in all this or use you as a pawn to get her way. Tsubame's argument is that while she always planned to have you help her, it was never her plan to use your relationship with him. That just kind of happened, and when things just kind of happen, Tsubame takes advantage of it. It's rather strange actually…"

"What is?"

"My brother's… fascination with you."

Sakura looked away from Leo, not sure what to say. She wasn't even sure where she and Naoki stood in all this mess. Seeing that she wasn't going to say anything, Leo continued.

"It's odd really. It can't be because you remind him of Tsubame at this age because Tsubame… We'll just say she was like fire and you… But it can't be your innocence. That wouldn't make you any different from his previous lovers."

"Previous…"

"Don't act shocked. It happens when you live for as many centuries as we do. I wouldn't go as far as calling him a womanizer, but he's had his fair share, especially when he and Tsubame are at odds. But you're different from them too. Tell me, how long have you two been an item?"

"Not long. Three and a half months."

"Really?" Leo asked sitting up in surprise. "Yeah… It's definitely not your innocence. Otherwise he would have been done with you and back to Tsubame three months ago and he's never been one to lead a girl on so…"

Leo trailed off seeing the way his analysis and trying to figure out what motive his brother could possibly have was bothering her. She was trying not to cry and though he didn't particularly care, he knew he'd have hell to pay with his brother if he hurt the girl. He rolled his eyes.

"Relax. For what it's worth, this is real to Naoki. I'm just trying to figure out why. So don't let my insensitivity bother you," Leo said as he stood up and began to leave the room. He stopped though. "Let me warn you though… He always goes back to Tsubame in the end."

"What?" Sakura asked.

"Naoki and Tsubame are an odd couple. They always have been, and they have an understanding of sorts…"

"An understanding?"

"It doesn't matter how long they're mad at each other, how long they stay away, in the end, they both know that they'll always come back. Their first loyalty is to each other. Can you live with that?"

Sakura opened her mouth to answer, but Leo shook his head.

"Don't answer that. I'm just warning you."

Leo left after that, leaving Sakura to her own thoughts, leaving her with new thoughts and not so much about what he said. Surprisingly that didn't bother her. But Leo's personality did. He was different from Kero, reminded her more of her Yue, but not quite as cold. Her Yue… that was why Leo's comment Tsubame and Naoki didn't bother her, not a lot anyway.

Sakura looked over to the window and though she knew it would be colder, she went to look out at the mountains, but saw nothing but fog, the night afternoon sky barely perceptible.

"What did he tell you?"

Sakura turned around, her instinct being to call him Yue upon seeing his silvery-white hair, and blue eyes. Then she remembered that this wasn't her Yue, but Naoki instead.

"Who?"

"Leo," Naoki muttered. "He can be rather insensitive sometimes."

"Oh," Sakura said quietly. "Nothing."

Naoki scoffed. "I hardly believe that."

Sakura quietly observed as Naoki put something on the bench near the mirror in the room, and upon closer inspection, she saw it was the fuchsia kimono Tsubame tried to give to her. But she didn't really care about that though. What she was more concerned about was now trying to figure out how Naoki was different from her Yue. She supposed she should treat it like a set of twins; the same physically for the most part and sometimes the same traits and quirks, but different personalities. Naoki was less tense for one and definitely not timid or intimidated by emotions. He was also warmer, not the social butterfly that Sakura was but definitely more so than Yue. And there was something about their eyes. She had never quite noticed it before, but Naoki lacked a certain look in his eyes. He lacked that haunted look that Yue sometimes had, that aloofness, and Sakura started to ponder what could possibly have caused that difference…

"Sakura."

Sakura jumped, wondering when Naoki had crossed the room to get to her. He touched her face and said, "Are you okay?"

"Yes," Sakura said looking down, not quite able to meet his eyes. It was a little awkward. This would take some getting used to. "It's just everything's so… I have to get used to it."

"If it helps, I don't have to use this form. I can use my disguised form if you want."

Sakura found it in her to look up at him at that point and then blushed saying, "No. It's fine. You prefer your true form don't you?"

"Not necessarily."

"You don't have to lie," Sakura muttered. "Yue, my Yue, he rather not use his false form if he can avoid it."

Naoki smiled a little, looking over to the kimono he had laid out and said, "Tsubame wants to talk to you, but she wants me to help you get into that first. Trust me. It's harder to get on that it looks."

"Oh," Sakura said as she went over the bench to look at it. She'd never feel comfortable wearing something so fine. She didn't feel elegant enough for it. "I'm fine in this."

Naoki came up behind her, while shaking his head. "Well then humor me. I didn't even know Tsubame still had this. The last time she wore it, I don't think she was even out her twenties. It never quite suited her personality though. Red… red suits her."

Sakura began to ask what he meant by that, but stopped when she noticed in their reflection in the mirror that he was undoing the buttons of the blouse she had on. She blushed while saying, "What are you…?"

"Relax. I'm just helping you. No different than anything I've done before."

Sakura wondered if she would have a permanent blush on her face because of Naoki and Sakura had a feeling he was doing so on purpose, for his own humor. There was another difference. Naoki was rather playful in his own way, gaining his amusement from making others uncomfortable and harmless teasing. She didn't mind it though.

He was at the last button of her blouse now, and when he was done with it, he laid his hands on her stomach, sliding them back up her abdomen, over her breasts and collar bone, and stopping them at her shoulder. He then pushed the blouse off and followed the cloth with his hands down her arms as it fell from her. Seeing her shiver, Naoki said, "Cold?"

She nodded a little and let him run his hands up and down her arms to warm her some before reaching one hand behind her and the other to the strap of her bra. She felt rather than saw him undo the strap, for her bra loosened hanging limply off of her. She noticed he kept watching for her reaction, waiting on her to stop him, but she didn't, even though she had to admit it was uncomfortable. It wasn't the first time he would see her naked. But it was different when they weren't caught up in the midst of passion. She didn't quite notice her bareness then.

He pulled down the bra, letting it fall on the floor and simply ran his hands over her breasts, not cupping them or even massaging them, but just running his hands over them, down her waist and to her hips where her jeans were. He pressed her against him, hands resting on the button and zipper of her jeans.

"I know what Leo said to you," Naoki whispered unbuttoning her jeans.

"He didn't… I mean it was nothing."

"Yes it was. It bothered you," Naoki replied undoing her zipper.

Sakura didn't answer him as he placed his hands in the waist of both her jeans and her panties and slid them down, kneeling to his knees to pull them down all the way and step her feet out of them. He slid them out the way and then wrapped his arms around her waist He then leaned his head on the small of her back, gently caressing the spot where his hand was resting on her stomach.

"Was he telling the truth?" Sakura finally asked.

"About what?"

"Do I remind you of Tsubame? We are the same person right?"

"You remind me of Tsubame about as much as I remind you of Yue," he said and Sakura wasn't sure whether he was saying it in a positive way or a negative.

"But you knew from the beginning. You…" Sakura sighed. She couldn't finish.

"I didn't know if it makes you feel better," Naoki said when he figured out she wasn't going to finish. "I didn't know until Tsubame told me after I came by the house."

"How could you not know," Sakura replied. "It's obvious."

"Maybe to you," Naoki said. "But I know Tsubame almost better than I know myself, every nuance, every quirk, every word that comes out of her mouth. You were different enough that I missed the similarities at first. Whether you believe me or not, it's the truth."

Sakura shivered a little, but this time not from the cold, but from the hand that was running up and down her thigh.

"If it makes you feel better though, I can tell you how you're different."

"How?"

"You're warm and welcoming. Tsubame, she's cold and that's fine if you like that sort of thing. It's just difficult to melt the ice. You're always so concerned about everyone else. You always consider everyone else."

"I don't… I feel selfish right now."

"It's not a crime every now and then," Naoki said standing up and wrapping his arms around her shoulders. His eyes were on the mirror, admiring the reflection of her. "And you're much more benevolent. With Tsubame, everything's a fight for dominance. You don't mind being vulnerable so much. And you're so shy and act so innocent. I think you know by now, Tsubame's not."

"And who do you prefer?"

Naoki kissed her exposed neck.

"I'm here with you now, aren't I?" Naoki asked. "But maybe that's a question better answered without words."

Sakura suddenly felt like she did their first night together; timid, apprehensive, unsure. And while she was always a little apprehensive in the beginning, this was different. This would be their first time together with not only the knowledge that he was Tsubame's guardian, but also that this was essentially Tsubame's Yue. And Sakura knew how she felt about her Yue, the jealousy she felt when someone thought they could take him from her. Not only that, but Tsubame had caused a lot of trouble and though Sakura would have like more than anything to just put it aside a nagging voice kept telling her this was wrong. Tsubame was playing a game and whether Naoki was willing or not, he was part of it. Tsubame, alternate version of herself or not, was evil.

"You're not comfortable with this," Naoki said seeming to detect her apprehension.

"I'm sorry. It's just... I need some time," Sakura said.

Naoki chuckled burying his face in her neck, "I figured. I understand."

That may have been the case, but the way Naoki's hands kept running across her nipples and rubbing her inner thighs while being careful not to go to close to her sex told a different story. Sakura thought he might disregard her, might touch her in the way that would make her cave and unable to resist him, but he didn't and pulled his face out of her neck and let go of her.

As he went to get the kimono off the chair he said, "It's probably better you spoke to Tsubame first anyway."

* * *

**AN:** I cut a huge chunk out of this and even then it was still 3k+ words! Anyway, things are going to be calm for a while or about as calm as things can be when this kind of stuff happens. Then stuff starts to get twisted and complicated again. And as you can see, I've broken this into Arcs, not so much for my sake, but for the readers because this is only the beginning.

Hope you enjoyed! And **Review Please** if you enjoyed the chapter or even if you didn't, for ff. net has made it so easy to simply put your arrow right in that big box that follows and type a quick review. I do appreciate the comments.


	21. Tsubame and Sakura

**Chapter Twenty-one  
Tsubame and Sakura  
**

He didn't feel like being with everyone else and not in the usual sense of not wanting to be bothered with everyone else. That Tsubame... It was one thing for her to fool them, wrap them all around her finger, calculate their every move and action in order to get her way. They could do something she couldn't predict in that case. It was another thing entirely for the woman to not just make a calculation that might fail give something occurred that she didn't count on, but for her to intimately know everything about them, everything they might do for the simple fact that she was an alternate version one of them.

Yue sighed. At least now he knew why he was somewhat attracted to the woman. She possessed the exact same charm as Sakura. Yue scowled. It explained why Sakura had taken to Naoki so much. Yue didn't know whether or not he was even allowed to be angry about that considering Naoki was just a version of himself in a way. How was he supposed to be angry at someone who was another version of him?

"Sitting here sulking isn't going to help matters."

Yue didn't turn around to let his brother know he was listening but that didn't stop Kero from continuing.

"You know this whole indifferent act and appearing not to care is what caused this mess to begin with."

That got a reaction out of Yue. He scowled and said, "Don't go blaming me for this. I didn't do anything."

"That's the point," Kero pointed out. "You heard Tsubame. Her plan was always to have Sakura, but she never planned to do it through Naoki. That just happened and Tsubame took advantage of it. Tsubame took advantage of everything, even old tensions between the Li's and the Reeds."

Yue winced. That was going to turn out to be disastrous if the two families didn't work it out. For the time being, the Reeds had returned to the states, but this debacle was far from over, especially now that Tsubame had Sakura. Yue couldn't help the tinge of betrayal that was there. While she hadn't exactly gone with the woman willingly, she hadn't resisted either. But Kero also had a point. This might not have gotten this far if he'd had the nerve to stop Sakura when she wanted him to in the first place. But he hadn't wanted her to get the wrong idea, not yet.

Yue decided not to comment on it though. Instead he said, "What's our next move?"

"Finding Tsubame and trying to figure out the difference between Sakura and Tsubame. Maybe if we can do that, we can figure out Tsubame's weakness and what caused her to become this," Kero said.

"There is one difference," Yue said quietly. "But not so much between Sakura and Tsubame."

"What's that?"

Yue didn't look at Kero as he said, "Did you notice your other self didn't come out the front of the book?"

* * *

"Well, well, well," Tsubame said when Sakura arrived at her room. "You actually made it here without me having to go get you. For a while I thought I might have to come get you this evening. I was just sure Naoki would decide to ravish you while helping you into that."

Sakura blushed and then Tsubame laughed and said, "I suppose if your blush is anything to go by he tried."

Between Naoki and Tsubame, Sakura was going to be a permanent shade of red.

"Now that's certainly a more fitting dress? What do you think?"

Sakura wasn't sure. She had been more focused on trying to ignore Naoki's hands as he dressed her, but she was right when he said it was harder to put on that it looked. First there had been a cotton under-robe and then she put on the silk off-shoulder kimono. But that was the relatively easy part. It was the obi that took the most work and Sakura had to wonder where Naoki had learned how to do it, probably from putting it on Tsubame.

"Come sit here," Tsubame said gesturing for Sakura to sit at the vanity.

When the girl was settled, Tsubame began to do her make-up, using pink lip gloss a light blush and mascara to enhance her features.

"There," Tsubame said kneeling behind Sakura to look at her in the mirror. "Now you look more like future queen should."

Sakura agreed. It looked nice, but that wasn't what she was paying attention to. What had captured her attention was the scary resemblance between her and Tsubame, yet they looked different. Her eyes were darker not just in their color, but in the sense that they were harder, with more knowledge of the world in her eyes, less innocence. Now that Sakura looked at the woman closer, it was all in her eyes. Her eyes were what gave away that she might be a little older than she looked. Otherwise, Tsubame didn't look much older than Sakura, probably barely out her teen years.

"Let's go upstairs," Tsubame said gesturing to a pair of shoes for Sakura to wear before leading her out the room.

Sakura was glad they were the only ones present and that they didn't run into Naoki or Leo for Sakura felt uncomfortable enough as it was around Tsubame right now.

When Tsubame said upstairs, she meant the roof of the temple when there was a beautiful sight of the mountains and the plains beneath it.

"It's beautiful," Sakura muttered.

"I know," Tsubame said and then turned to Sakura. "I have to admit, I'm a little curious about you."

Sakura looked at her in confusions. It never occurred to her that Tsubame might be just as curious about Sakura ans Sakura was about her. "Oh?"

Tsubame nodded. "You're so much different that I was at your age. Yet in a lot of ways, we're the same."

"To be truthful, I don't see the similarities."

Tsubame laughed. "You just haven't lived long enough. You're still a baby. You don't know the things you would do if you gave yourself another hundred years. Trust me, after a while, I started to surprise myself."

"You mean I'll become just like you?"

"Privately, maybe not. But publicly, I need you to become Queen Tsubame."

Sakura was silent on the matter, and Tsubame let her be.

"I'm not so arrogant or overconfident that I would potentially destroy my greatest ally and try to rule two universes by myself. That's where those before me got it wrong. No… I want to recreate myself in a way."

"Recreate yourself?"

Tsubame nodded. "We have a lot to do, starting tomorrow. But starting today, I'm going to let you in on one of the secrets to my power. Tell me Sakura. Have you heard of the Geisha?"

Sakura nodded, not quite sure what the Geisha had to do with this, but said anyway, "I thought you looked like one when I first saw you."

"Exactly," Tsubame said. "The Geisha didn't know the type of power they held. If they hadn't confined and limited themselves to two silly districts in Tokyo and Kyoto, not to mention evolved with the times, they could have learned how to Japan."

"How?"

Tsubame looked at her. "Because they had the biggest advantage, an advantage most see as a disadvantage."

"What?"

"They were women. Do you know what a Geisha's entire career is based on?" Sakura shook her head. "It's based on men trying to get as close as they can to sex without actually receiving it. It's a delicate balance. Too far to the right, and you're a prude. Too far to the left, and you're a whore. If you can keep that delicate balance, you can put even the greatest of men in your control. And for women, you make them just jealous enough that they want to attain your control, give them something to try to achieve. It's that simple."

"But, your magic. That didn't help?"

"Of course it did," Tsubame said. "In the beginning it was easier to just make everyone fear my power and make them submit, but you'll come to learn, and in fact I think you have, that adoration is a much better compeller than fear. I'm going to teach you how to make men bow to you and women think they can become just like you."

Sakura bit her lip. "I don't know. I don't really want to rule anyone."

"We'll see if that's how you feel later," Tsubame said, not at all bothered by her reluctance. "Come on. It's getting a little windy out here. Let's go inside and have breakfast, shall we?"

Tsubame led Sakura back down to a dining hall, somehow not getting lost in the massive hallways of the temple. It really was beautiful and Sakura had to wonder how Tsubame had found it

"What's on the agenda?" Naoki asked as he and Leo came into the room just as Sakura and Tsubame settled down for dinner.

"I think I need to pay another visit to the council. If I know Takita, she hasn't quite informed her fellow members of what has gone on. She's probably going to try to mediate it herself. It's too bad really. The look on their faces when they find out," Tsubame said as she bit into a piece of pineapple.

Sakura on the other hand only nibbled on a roll in effort to calm her nerves. She still couldn't believe she was here, with Tsubame and not trying to stop the woman.

"That," Tsubame said, "And Sakura needs to be trained."

Sakura paused at this. "Trained."

Tsubame gave her a small smile. "Of course. You have a lot of potential yet you haven't even begun to reach it. I'll have to rectify that."

Sakura put a hand on her breasts, suddenly aware of the absence of the cool surface of her staff key.

"But, my staff…"

"There's more to training than just magic, but you are right. You don't have a staff," Tsubame said and then removed her own key from around her neck and handed it to Sakura. "This should do for now."

Tsubame dangled the key in front of her, but Sakura didn't take it from her.

"But this… this is your staff," Sakura said.

"And I don't need it," Tsubame said.

Sakura still didn't immediately take it, but eventually grabbed it out Tsubame's hand.

"Well go on. See if you can call it forward. It should work since theoretically we're the same person," Tsubame reminded.

"What do you say? To bring it forward I mean."

Tsubame smiled a little. "This is the perfect time for your first lesson. Come with me Sakura."

"What about Takita?" Naoki pointed out.

"That's right," Tsubame said and then looked between Sakura and Naoki and with a wry smile said, "Can I trust you to educate her in the ways of magic and avoid trying to do so in passion instead.

Sakura flushed, but Naoki only rolled his eyes, more than used to her jabs by now.

"You don't have to worry about that. Leo will be there," Naoki pointed out.

"Good point," Tsubame said. "He always has managed to spoil everyone's fun."

"No. What I do is try to keep you two out of trouble. It's never worked. I'm just glad I wasn't around when the two of you were capturing the cards. Some of the things Li told me… Even after three hundred years it still gives me a headache."

Tsubame giggled, hugging Leo around the neck and saying, "You know you wouldn't have it any other way."

"Let go already," Leo said trying to nudge Tsubame away.

Tsubame pouted playfully, but let Leo go regardless and turned on her heal to leave the room.

"I'll be back by this evening," she said and then for good measure, she turned back to Naoki and said, "Behave."

When she left, Sakura turned to Naoki and Leo, who had stood up and was heading out the room.

"You two coming?" he asked.

"Stop being so impatient," Naoki said slowly following him and then stopped. "Are you coming?"

Sakura blinked out her brief stupor and smiled a little, Tsubame's staff key in hand. "Yeah…"

* * *

"I know you're angry right now and feeling threatened, but you can't just cut all ties to the Reeds. Give them the benefit of the doubt, at least until I'm able to talk to them."

Takita never thought she'd have to resign herself to almost literally begging the Li Clan to hold off any action to take the Reed's down a few notches for their betrayal and while she had been looking for a way to divide the two families for years, this was a precautious situation. Both families had friends in high places and the wrong move against either one of them could send not only the magical world, but the entire world into the next World War. And while that might actually benefit the council if she played her cards right, until Takita found out the intentions of Tsubame, it was better to tread with caution.

"She's right," Syaoran said sighing.

Yelan opened her mouth to protest, but Syaoran continued, "We can't just throw three hundred years of loyalty down the drain."

"Was it really? Who knows how many other back door deals they've made?" Yelan said and then added, "The elders agree with me."

"And," Takita started, "We don't even know Tsubame's plan yet. She might be counting on this."

"I think Tsubame has made perfectly clear that it doesn't matter what we do," Yelan pointed out. "And even if this is her plan, the Reeds wouldn't have given in so easily if they hadn't been looking for a way to destroy our family anyway."

"You'll do what you feel you must," Takita said finally. "But at least don't do it until I get the Reed's side of the story. Then you can decide."

The room was silent and Takita silently hoped that they would at least consider it. Consideration would buy her some time, time to look into this Tsubame. There had to be something about the woman in the council records, the archives, if not directly, then definitely indirectly.

Finally Syoaran sighed. "A week Takita. But when you get back you better have one hell of a resolution for this."

It was the best Takita could ask for right now, especially considering she didn't have much to work with. With that said, she made her way back to her room, starting to take out the mains that held up her brown hair, intending to ponder what it was she could do to stop this, but a someone kneeling on the floor in the middle of the room caught her attention right before she turned to close the door. Waiting for her was the very woman she had been curious to find out more about.

"Tsubame…"

"Good you know who I am and I know who you are. So we can skip the formalities and get down to the real business."

"Sure. Like why you're trying to start a war," Takita deadpanned knelling in front of the woman, not sure what she wanted. Takita was pretty sure if Tsubame wanted to attack, she would have done it by now.

Tsubame smiled. "Don't be so sour about it. I did you a favor."

"By starting a war that the council may very well not be able to stop."

"Exactly."

"I'm not sure I comprehend."

"Don't pretend that we both don't know that the very reason the magic council exist is because when non-magicals dethroned us in favor of their religion, the former monarchies wanted to maintain a sense of control. And ever since then, you all have been trying to maintain it. Correct?" Tsubame didn't wait for an answer. "This is your chance now. To go back to the old way. Just think about it. I started the feud. All you have to do is add fuel to the fire, so much so that this war will not only divide the world, but the council as well."

"Sounds like the Trojan war."

"It's the exact philosophy," Tsubame said. "It'll be too much for the council to handle and in order for it to be resolved the council will be forced to instate an old almost forgotten provision."

Takita narrowed her eyes.

"What provision?"

Tsubame laughed coyly. "Don't play dumb. You're the head of the council and you've been trying to find a way to force that provision into use ever since you got the position. Head of a council, sharing the decision making with people less competent than yourself. It's not enough for you, is it?" she asked knowingly. "But here's your chance. Only a fool wouldn't take advantage of it."

"And only a fool would take advantage of it without thinking it through. Tell me Tsubame, what do you get out of this?"

"I want in on this monarchy, through the council of course."

"You don't think I'm dumb enough to put you on the council?" asked Takita.

"Of course not, but I think you'd be more than willing to allow my apprentice, to do so."

"Your apprentice?"

"You know her better as Kinomoto Sakura and we both know that the council has had their eye on her since they found out she was the candidate for mastery of Clow's cards."

"You would leave her in the hands of the council?" Takita asked.

"Who better? It's not like I can watch her all day as I'm trying to get a war started and all, not to mention you can call it an exchange of trust here. I trust you all to take good care of my apprentice and you trust me to help restore a magical monarchy and shape the world the way it should be."

"This is too good to be true."

"But too risky to pass up."

Something flashed in Tsubame's eyes and Takita had the feeling that she was being threatened in that sentence, despite the truth in it. There were ten other member on the council who would jump at the chance at Tsubame's offer, without thinking of the consequences, without the skill and competence to cautiously play Tsubame's game.

"I'll have to talk with the council."

"I don't think they'll protest."

Takita would feel better about this if she could tell what was on the woman's mind, but as it was, Tsubame was hard to read. She had the oddest reactions to everything. She didn't falter at all when Takita called her out on what she got out of this. Then there was the fact that she was willingly offering up her apprentice. If she knew anything at all about the council, or at least as much as she let on, Tsubame had to know that was like a kitten amongst lions. It was risky to take her up on her offer, but it was even riskier not to. At least Takita could somehow keep an eye on the woman in the midst of all this through her apprentice, perhaps even find out what she was up to, for Takita hadn't led the council for as long as she had on luck. She knew darn well if this woman was cunning enough to set the Li Clan and the Reed family against each other, there was no way she would willingly put Takita on a throne. So at the very least, Takita could stop Tsubame from getting it.

"Consider it done," Takita finally said.

* * *

**AN:** This was one of the chapters that I was a little iffy about because it's one of those chapters that feels more like a filler but is one of those fillers that's needed for the story to progress. I call it a transitional chapter.

In other news. J.K. Rowling's new book came out and I have it! So I'll be neglecting some things. So if a chapter comes out a few hours later than normal, it's because of that book.

Secondly, since it seems like most of us are in college or some type of school and really busy, I've decided to cut back on updating twice a week and only update once a week on Saturdays. It's not use posting another chapter if most of you haven't caught up to the chapter before and that gives me more time to finish writing this story which is still not done, but certainly will be.

Hope you enjoyed! And **Review Please** if you enjoyed the chapter or even if you didn't, for ff. net has made it so easy to simply put your arrow right in that big box that follows and type a quick review. I do appreciate the comments.


	22. Powerof the Cards

**Chapter Twenty-two  
Power of the Cards  
**

"It feels different."

Leo looked up from where he was lounging to look at Sakura who had finally managed to summon the full staff with a little difficulty in the beginning. Then she had begun testing it in her hands, a curious frown on her face.

"Different how?" Leo asked.

Sakura shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, it feels like my staff, but it's not mine."

It was still light, but it felt heavier than her staff did in her hands. Not only that, but where her staff had been something of an extension of her own limbs, this staff didn't quite feel like that. It felt like there was some kind of disconnect between her and it. That was especially so now that Sakura had no words to say to summon it.

"Well until you can create another staff, it's all you've got. You'll get used to it," Leo said as she played with the staff in her hands, twirling it in her hands and tossing it in the air like a baton before catching it again.

"Maybe," Sakura muttered as she sat down on one of the stone benches in the garden and then said, "Can I ask you something?"

"You can ask, but it doesn't mean I'll answer," Leo muttered laying back down.

Sakura was a little taken aback by his cold reply. She couldn't help but notice how different Leo was from Kero. Naoki had said insensitive earlier, but it was more than that, almost like Leo was a little spiteful. Regardless, Sakura didn't let it deter her and said, "Earlier, with Tsubame… You said something. You said Naoki helped Tsubame catch the cards."

"And?" Leo sasked impatiently.

Sakura huffed glaring at him. "Don't be such a jerk. I was just asking because it's just strange. I didn't meet Yue until it was time for my judgment."

Leo looked at Sakura in curiosity at that. Apparently, for all Tsubame's knowledge of Sakura and just about everything in the world, she hadn't known that, for surely she would have mentioned it.

"Interesting," Leo said glancing over at Naoki who sitting under a tree asleep. "So he was the judge in your time.'

Sakura nodded and then added, "Kero helped me capture the cards."

Leo shrugged. "I wonder what else is different, not to mention why."

"You're different," Sakura muttered.

Leo lazily moved his head in a different way so that he could see her better from where he was laying.

"Oh?"

"Yes," Sakura said absently. "Yue is too. He's not as open as Naoki. In fact, distant might be the word, really distant."

"Well, three hundred years with Tsubame has done this to him. Probably not as different as you think."

"No. Not like that. I get the sense that Naoki and Tsubame… They have their problems but nothing neither one already knows about. Yue doesn't tell me everything, if he tells me anything at all and I used to think that was because it wasn't the business of a ten-year-old girl, but now… Now I'm not sure," Sakura said and then sighed.

"Ten?" Leo asked.

"Well I was ten when I found the cards, eleven by the time I met Yue," Sakura said. "But it's the same thing. I was a little girl then. I get the feeling my Yue still sees me that way sometimes."

Sakura then sighed, a little bored. The she stood up and said, "Can I go see the temple? I didn't see all of it when I was with Tsubame."

Leo shrugged. "You can do what you want. I'm not your babysitter and Naoki's going to be out for a while. He's always been more of a night owl."

"So I gathered," Sakura said laughing.

Leo smirked. "He keeps you up late?"

Sakura began to answer him until she figured out what he was implying and blushed. "Shut up you," she muttered and made her way back into the temple.

Leo only chuckled a little and when he was sure she was gone turned to Naoki, who wasn't as asleep as he appeared, and said, "I see why you like her so much. Her innocence is endearing. It not the clueless and oblivious type."

Leo's small smile turned into a smirk. "I wonder which one of you is going to leave first though."

Naoki opened his eyes at that. "What do you mean?"

"It's obvious isn't it? That girl has separated you two, but she's still smitten with him. She's going to miss him eventually and when she does, this plan of Tsubame's is going to explode right in her face, not to mention Tsubame can get downright vindictive when you've been gone too long."

Naoki didn't answer but instead suddenly said, "Fifteen."

Leo frowned. "What?"

"I know you're going to ask eventually and before you do, I'm answering. Tsubame was fifteen when she found the Clow Book and the cards in a box of stuff she was about to give away."

* * *

He had dismissed the connection he had with Tsubame as some instinctual thing because in reality she was only an alternate version of Sakura. It meant he was as aware of Tsubame in the back of his consciousness as he was of Sakura as a result and at first, it hadn't bothered him. But as soon as Eriol had pointed out that their first priority was figuring out where Tsubame might have gone, to Yue's surprise (and eventually dismay) he somehow already knew. To say the least it unnerved him when he saw the image of the temple, hidden in the mountains in his mind. So much so that he didn't realize Eriol was calling his name until Cerberus barked it out.

"What?" he snapped.

"You're the one that wouldn't answer. Did you hear what Eriol said?"

Yue looked at the boy, trying to recall. It was something about Tsubame…

"Wow, you're really spacey and that's saying something," Cerberus said in what might have been a teasing way if it weren't for the serious tone.

"You can blame Tsubame for that. She did something and I don't know how she managed it," Yue said.

"Managed what?"

"To form some kind of connection between us. And I don't know whether she did it on purpose or not."

"What do you mean connection?" Eriol asked.

Yue sighed. "Her presence. She's not here, yet I'm very aware of her, almost as much as I'm aware of Sakura, but in a different way. This one seems less natural… more artificial, especially considering I didn't know about it."

"That's _almost_ impossible," Erio said. "In order for her to have done something like that, she would have had to have some kind of physical contact with you."

"During their fight then?" Cerberus asked.

"No," Eriol said. "As powerful as Tsubame is even she has to conform to certain rules of magic. There wasn't enough time for her to manage something like that then."

Yue pressed his lips together, hoping that they wouldn't ask, hoping that they would just assume that Tsubame had found a way around it. The last thing he wanted to do was tell them about the second more intimate encounter he had with Tsubame.

The gods weren't on his side that day.

"Well the only other time I can think of was when she stayed at the house, but she seemed to keep her distance then, not to mention I don't think she would have risked something like that with Sakura and Tomoyo around," Kero pointed out. "And for her to manage something like that, that means Yue would have had to allow her to come into that kind of proximity to him."

Damn it, Yue thought to himself trying to seem natural. But where Tsubame was concerned, he always managed to lose in his composure, even when she wasn't around. As a result, both Kero and Eriol caught the way he looked away from them for the briefest moment before looking back.

"Is there something you aren't telling us Yue?" Eriol asked.

Yue glared at Eriol, but said anyway, "There was another encounter, a more intimate one."

"You're kidding," Kero said dryly.

"It wasn't that intimate!" Yue snapped and then lowered his tone as he continued, "It was just the two of us in her room."

"Do tell what you were doing in Tsubame's room?" Kero asked, unable to help himself as he snickered.

"Stop playing. I was just there to ask her about her crest after I figured out who she was and I was trying to get her to admit it. She wouldn't stop being coy about it, so I gave up, but she did get a little teasing…"

"Do tell," Kero continued.

Yue flushed. "It was nothing. She just touched me on the chest and kissed me. I didn't think anything of it at first. I thought she was just trying to fluster me, but now…"

"Well at least now we know how she managed it. Anything else you want to tell us?"

Yue sighed. He may as well…

"I know where she is."

* * *

"Bored?"

"Yes."

Tsubame laughed. "That just tells me you're not truly aware of how powerful you really are."

Sakura looked up from what she was doing, which was reading a book Tsubame happened to have on hand since she was bored. A few days cooped up in a temple would do that to a person, Sakura mused. But today, Tsubame, who Sakura hadn't seen for a while since the woman left when they first got there, seemed to have taken an invested interest in her boredom.

"What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said. You aren't aware. Don't worry. I didn't either when I was your age. I didn't realize it until I was forced to, but trust me. It's better you come to this realization sooner rather than later. Come with me."

Sakura set her book aside and began to follow Tsubame.

"Think about it," Tsubame said as she led Sakura outside. "Nineteen cards that captured the attention of the entire magical community. Every wonder why? Or better yet, have you ever considered why they're considered the most powerful form of magic in this world?"

Sakura couldn't say that she had and judging by the smile Tsubame gave her, the woman knew it.

"Sure the cards are a new type of magic and they're powerful on their own, but to get the real power out of the cards, you have to be a little creative. What's a tornado?"

Sakura blinked. Here Tsubame went being random again. Well, not really random, but Tsubame had a certain whimsicalness about her that Sakura was beginning to suspect was an act to make people underestimate and dismiss the things she said or make light of them one. Sakura had learned that when Tsubame took that tone, it was time to pay attention.

"A tornado?"

"Yeah. They're not as common in Japan as they are in North America, I know. But you've heard of them right?"

"Yeah… It's just swirling wind right? It looks like a giant cyclone."

"Swirling wind and water, the ones that you can see anyway. Without getting too technical, it's a rapidly spinning wind and clouds, water that touches the ground. Now, tell me what a typhoon is?"

"Lot's a wind and rain."

"Sure when it hits land. But it's just a lot of swirling wind and water on the sea. You know the beauty of both?" Tsubame didn't wait for Sakura to answer. "No matter how many weapons a person has, no matter how much they think they understand it, no one can fight nature, no one can control it… except for you and me."

Tsubame said it so calmly, like what she was saying wasn't that big of a deal, continuing on her way while Sakura had momentarily stopped in her tracks. Gaining a sense of herself again, Sakura stuttered, "I can't control that stuff."

"Sure, not right now. But that's because you hadn't thought of the possibility. Take out the cards."

They were outside now and Tsubame gracefully knelt on the ground, patting the spot next to her for Sakura. Sakura sat down, cards in hand and then spread them out in front of her per Tsubame's gesture to do so.

"Let's start with the basics. Light and Dark of course and then the main four elements, five if you decide to include Wood," Tsubame said. "Now if you pair Windy and Watery the right way, along with Firey, you can magically create the perfect conditions for a Tornado and the same if you wanted to create a Typhoon."

Sakura frowned. "A tornado… But you just said yourself. It's spiraling wind and clouds."

"Yes, but a cloud is just water vapor. You have to remember Sakura, with Watery, you can manipulate water in all its forms as long as you're specific about what you want done. And Windy… while she's the most gentle of the elements, she can also be the most volatile. Put that together and what you get is a force that can wipe out armies and make even the most powerful of sorcerers tremble before you. Not many people have the guts to try to fight nature and of those who do, only a few can actually combat it."

Sakura had a feeling that this was Tsubame's subtle way of trying to let Sakura in on her plan to take advantage of this pending war that she kept mentioning, but instead of pointing that out, she asked, "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because people will fear you for it. But when it comes to ruling, you don't want the fear of what you can do to keep them subdued because eventually people overcome fear. What will keep people forever in your whims is giving them the knowledge that you can use that power, but refrain from doing so unless the situation is dire at least to other sorcerers. To every other non-magical person, they'll just think you have the backing of God or some high tech science that allows for you rule them, something they'll never be able to achieve. That's the great thing about our magic Sakura. It doesn't have to be obviously magical. We can make it look like a natural phenomena."

"That seems cruel. To trick people like that I mean."

"You'll learn one day that people are going to believe what they want even when all the evidence points to something else," Tsubame said with a shrug as she stood up. "And you'll also find out in the days to come that it's necessary to stir trouble, chaos, and war, to establish something."

"Is that something good or bad?" Sakura asked wryly.

"Depends on your point of view," Tsubame said holding out her hand and collecting the cards into a stack above her hand before holding it out to Sakura.

Sakura stood also and put her hand over the cards to take them, but the way Tsubame was staring at her, dark emerald eyes looking at her with such concentration Sakura wondered if the woman was trying to look into her soul. She shivered. It was times like these that the woman's appearance, the exact image of herself albeit a little older, unnerved Sakura.

"I didn't mean to scare you."

"I'm not-"

"Don't lie. It used to scare me too. But it's riskier not knowing the true extent of the power you hold than being aware of it. If we're going to pull this off, I need you to understand this."

Sakura nodded.

Tsubame smiled. "Good. So let's put the theory into practice. Remember, be creative. Not just with the elemental cards either. For instance, Illusion and Mirror have something of a funhouse mirror effect when put together. Let's try that first."

"She'll have to try it later."

Sakura nearly jumped, but Tsubame merely said, "And why is that Naoki?"

"I'm stealing her for the evening," Naoki said wrapping an arm around Sakura's waist and pulling her close to him, the first time he had done so in a while. Sakura blushed and while against him took notice that he was using his false form for the first time in days. "You've had her cooped up in this temple for days. I'm sure she'd like to get out. Relax a little. Whatever you're up to, she's going to need it."

"Probably," Tsubame replied simply. "Where are you going?"

"I heard the market in the town beneath us has a pretty decent night life. We'll find something to do. You're welcome to join us."

Tsubame huffed. "You know I don't like sharing. Don't worry. Leo and I will find some way to occupy ourselves. Have fun."

* * *

**AN:** Okay. I'm at a writer's conference, so not much to say, but there's some free internet, so I'm updating. I took out an entire scene as I edited this and I guess I'll do something with it later. Actually, it does have a place. So enjoy. Gotta run.

Hope you enjoyed! And **Review Please** if you enjoyed the chapter or even if you didn't, for ff. net has made it so easy to simply put your arrow right in that big box that follows and type a quick review. I do appreciate the comments.


	23. April Showers and May Flowers

**Chapter Twenty-three  
April Showers and May Flowers  
**

"What did Tsubame tell you?"

Sakura snapped out of her thoughts at Naoki's voice.

"What?"

"Tsubame said something to you that bothered."

Sakura had figured out a while ago that it was pointless to try to lie to Naoki when it came to stuff like that and so she asked dryly, "What gave it away?"

"You're entirely too quiet."

That was true enough. Naoki had been right when he said that the town near the temple had a market with a decent night life, more than decent really, and on any normal occasion, just the sight would have made Sakura giddy with joy. But everything was anything but normal now, especially after her talk with Tsubame.

"What did she say this time?" Naoki asked pretending to be paying attention to the cook that was making a big show of making some spiced local cuisine under the light of the moon and the lanterns in the street.

"It's not so much what she said as it is the truth in it that bothers me," Sakura said.

Naoki chuckled. "Tsubame has always had a knack for doing that. She's always been very painfully honest in her own subtle way."

Sakura might have laughed a little if what Tsubame had said this time hadn't scared her so much. "She was trying to teach me about the different ways to use the cards, telling me that even though they're powerful alone, together I can manipulate any destructive force of nature I desire."

"That scares you?"

Sakura shook her head. "Not as much as it should have, and that's the part that scares me."

Naoki turned to look at her now. "Oh?"

"Having all that kind of power seems wrong, yet it's appealing to me, almost like something inside me craves it. I like the idea of being able to remake the world the way I see fit and yet… it seems like having that much power is bound to corrupt someone. Isn't it?"

"Eventually, I suppose."

Sakura cringed. That wasn't exactly what she wanted to hear.

"But that's why it's necessary to have someone to ground you. That and a pure heart helps."

"Tsubame has a pure heart?"

"For the most part, yes. Tsubame's not as ruthless as she seems, so don't let her coldness get to you. She's more a victim of circumstance," Naoki said dryly.

Not for the first time did Sakura wonder exactly what circumstances made Tsubame who she was. But Sakura had a feeling now wasn't the time to ask.

"Still. It doesn't seem like one person should have all that power to destroy and instill fear like that."

Naoki hummed and then said, "Maybe I shouldn't have stolen you from Tsubame so early."

Sakura stopped at that. "Huh?"

"What I mean is that I don't think that was her point, not fully anyway. I should have given her the time to finish."

"Then if you know what it was, why don't you explain it?" Sakura asked as they started walking again, looking for something else to entertain them.

"I'm only partially sure because only heavens know what her real purpose might have been," Naoki said with a roll of his eyes. "But you have to remember how dual your powers are Sakura. They aren't just for destruction as Tsubame might have led you to believe. She's trying to start a war, so she's a little one-track minded right now and probably just hasn't gotten around to telling you the other side of it."

"And what's that?" Sakura asked.

"Anything that's natural only has as much power to destroy as it does to create Sakura. You don't have to be destructive with your magic if you don't want to," Naoki muttered.

Sakura smiled. "April showers bring May flowers?"

"Exactly," Naoki said. "Bet you never thought of it that way."

"I never thought about it at all… I've never really done anything with my magic unless I needed to."

"Then we should try it. Continue your lesson since I interrupted it earlier."

"But… wh-" Sakura yelped in surprise as one moment her feet were on the ground and the next Naoki had taken her to the skies. It wasn't a long flight, very brief and by the time Sakura had gotten over her startle, they landed again, this time on a rocky, barren valley near the base of the mountain where the temple was.

"You could have warned me," Sakura said trying to calm her racing heart.

"I know. It was more fun this way though," he said returning back to his disguised form.

Sakura hit him on the arm. "It's not funny. Someone could have seen you."

"They didn't," Naoki said.

Sakura scowled a little at his dismissal of her concerns and then looked around, scowling for an entirely different reason.

"What am I supposed to do here?"

"Whatever you want," Naoki said. "You don't have to use the cards to destroy or even have a particular reason. You can use them just because you can."

Sakura furrowed her brow in thought, but then Naoki grabbed her around the waist and whispered in her ear, "Don't think about it. Let it be instinctual. Otherwise you won't enjoy it as much. You understand, right?"

Sakura blushed at the subtle innuendo but nodded anyway as she summoned two cards to her hand, the two that Tsubame had showed her could be used in combination to create destruction. WINDY and WATERY. Now what?

"Try it with Thunder and let the cards show you what they can do. Don't give them a command. Just watch"

"But…"

"If they get out of hand, they'll listen to you," Naoki assured kissing her on the cheek and then backed away to give her room to summon her staff. Tsubame's staff, Sakura thought to herself. It still didn't feel like hers.

Sakura still wasn't sure, all too used to Kero warning her to be very specific about her intentions when using the cards less they get out of hand. But Sakura pushed the voice out of her head and called the cards forward anyway, with no specific intention in mind.

The three spirits, released into their physical forms and with no specific instructions but to demonstrate to their mistress what they could do, twisted together and shot into the sky. It was hardly a few seconds before rain began to fall, accompanied by thunder and lightning.

"SHIELD!" Sakura called to protect herself and Naoki from the elements.

Normally, Thunderstorms, especially ones accompanied by wind, intimidated her. But she took comfort in the fact that this was all her doing, by her magic that would never hurt her. It was interesting to watch. It was nowhere near as destructive as what Tsubame had told her, not destructive at all really. But the fact that she could turn this into something dangerous, a little more lightning to spark a fire, or a little more wind to cause a terrible storm that could destroy the town below them. What if one day she lost control? What if she lost control now?

"People mistake magic as some kind of force that's either good or bad or harmless or dangerous and while some magic is more inclined to the dark persuasion than other, it's the user that determines whether the effect is dangerous or not," Naoki said softly, almost like he had read her thoughts just then. But there was also something else in his tone, like this wasn't the first time he had told someone this and not for the first time in the last few days did Sakura wonder if he was in the present with her, or reliving a moment he had already experienced in some way with Tsubame.

Regardless, it had its effect and Sakura put her fears aside to simply enjoy using her magic for no other purpose except that she could do so. Finally, she called the three spirits back to her hand, causing the storm to disappear as quickly as it had come. She looked around. While the storm hadn't been destructive, the valley was now a soft wet mess.

"You should try Woody, Flower, and Earthy now. This is their kind of playing field."

Sakura bit her lip. "That's a lot of magic."

"Not really. Before maybe, but now that you've created a more conducive environment, it won't take as much energy."

"What's that mean?"

"Even though magic can be used to create nothing from something, it's not as easy as people like to believe. It is easy when you have something to work with. In this case, you would just be speeding up the process of something that would probably happen anyway."

Sakura rubbed her forehead. "I didn't know there were so many technicalities to magic."

"Not really technicalities. But knowing the details makes it a lot easier sometimes."

Sakura smiled a little taking out the three cards Naoki had suggested and similar to before, except with a little more confidence, and released them, this time with less apprehension than before. One thing she immediately noticed was that Naoki was right. She didn't feel the normal drain that came with using so much magic, particularly the cards, right behind each other and made a mental note to keep that particular suggestion in mind when she really needed to use her magic.

Earthy went first, its magic upturning and mixing the ground before Wood used her magic to activate the seeds blown their way by Windy, causing fresh green grass to grow and a tall, thick tree in the middle. Flower was last, using her magic to cause the tree to blossom and cause orange, red, and yellow petals to fall from the sky.

"See. Even out of destruction comes creativity," Naoki said catching a petal.

"So this is what Tsubame meant," Sakura muttered catching the three cards back in her hands.

"About what?"

"She said something about using war, chaos, and destruction to establish something. She didn't say what, but I like to think that maybe this is what she was trying to tell me," Sakura said deciding that it was enough magic for today and putting the staff and the cards away, instead deciding to enjoy the view and watching the sun finish sinking into the horizon at the end of a long summer day. "It's so beautiful. The view I mean."

Naoki chuckled, coming up next to her and grabbing her by the waist. He kissed her on the forehead and muttered against her skin, "Which one?"

It took a few seconds for Sakura to understand what he meant, and when she did she smiled shyly slowly raising her head to look at him. He seemed a bit hesitant, obviously not sure about what she wanted and Sakura didn't blame him. Since they got here, after Tsubame had revealed them, Naoki had given her the space she needed. Not that he had been avoiding her, but still it had been a while since they shared a kiss or anything else for that matter.

He looked like he was going to back away, but Sakura didn't let him and closed the gap, pressing her lips on his. He responded to her, returning the kiss but only gently before pulling away again. Sakura smiled a little, bashfully, as she backed away. This was still all a little too confusing and to be honest, though she was here now, she wasn't sure what she'd do if she got the chance to leave which she hadn't knowing how closely Tsubame was keeping an eye on her. So in effort to take her mind off her own guilt and confusion, she stopped trying to hold down her blush as she said softly, "I mean the sunset Naoki."

* * *

**AN:** So like I said, life happens on Saturday for me. I'm out of town again, but that's fine because my hotel has free internet that I'm happy to take advantage of. So this is short and that's because I rearranged more scenes again. Forgive any typos since I'm in the middle of taking care of something. Smh. Don't ask.

Hope you enjoyed! And **Review Please** if you enjoyed the chapter or even if you didn't, for ff. net has made it so easy to simply put your arrow right in that big box that follows and type a quick review. I do appreciate the comments.


	24. Decisions, Decisions Part I

**Chapter Twenty-four  
Decisions, Decisions Part I  
**

Takita couldn't say she was completely against this. This had been the opportunity her family had been looking for for years, a way to completely and totally restore the magical monarchy in not only the magical world, but non-magical too. Though she still had her reservations about Tsubame's intention, she couldn't deny that this was too good a possibility to pass up, which was why "negotiated" with Jonathon Reed with the full intention of starting an all out war. It was only a matter of time.

"Did you manage it?"

Takita wasn't even going to ask how Tsubame managed to find her way onto her private jet. For a sorceress as powerful as she was, it probably wasn't that hard and that fact made Takita all the more wary of the woman. If she was so powerful, why use such underhanded tactics and put two families at war to possibly destroy the council because Takita had no doubt that she could do it alone.

"Of course I did," Takita said. "I haven't run the council this long on being dumb."

Tsubame laughed. "Don't flatter yourself Takita. The Reeds have too much pride for their own good, so much so that they're greatest fear is losing their so-called prestige or power. A fool could have manipulated Jonathon into doing something stupid to save his pride. So what did you tell him?"

"The truth."

"Was it enough?"

"Didn't even have to add yeast to it," Takita said.

Tsubame smiled. "And now all we have to do is wait for it to all explode."

"And then what?"

Tsubame smiled, a smile that Takita was learning to become increasingly wary of. Behind this whimsical innocent white mask was a master strategist. She had to be if she had single handedly brought two of the most powerful closely tied families to war.

"We wait. With a feud of this scale, the other families are bound to pick sides, ones that are related to the council. Despite their vow of neutrality, it's bound to split the council and then the council will be forced to take desperate measures. The only catch is that you have to make sure you stay neutral, no matter what your family does. No one will vote you queen if they don't think you'll be fair and unbiased," Tsubame assured.

Takita gave Tsubame a sideways glance. "You seem to know a lot about what it takes to become a ruler."

"I'm not so vain that I call myself Queen Tsubame for nothing, but no. I didn't become queen by a democratic or republic vote where I come from."

"Where do you come from? A distant planet or something?"

"A planet closer to home," Tsubame said vaguely. "But we'll discuss everything more when we get to Athens."

Takita raised her eyebrows. "Don't you need your apprentice or something or is she already in Athens?"

Tsubame laughed. "I know that. That's why I plan to meet you there later. I just wanted to check in on you is all. See if we were still on the same page."

Takita couldn't help herself. There was something in Tsubame's tone that she just couldn't ignore, the tone of superiority and if there was one thing Takita wouldn't stand for it was being bullied.

"Are you threatening me Tsubame?"

"Never. Just making sure you'll keep your end of the bargain of course."

"You don't trust that I'll keep it?"

"Of course you will," Tsubame said in that whimsical tone again, that tone that sent shivers down Takita's spine. "Me and the girl will be arriving again this evening. You and your council just be ready to welcome us."

* * *

"You've been gone all night."

Sakura jumped, having not seen Leo in the corner of Tsubame's room when she entered the room with Naoki to find the said woman. Leo was lying lazily in front of the woman's window waiting for an answer.

"What's it to you? Miss us?" Naoki asked dryly.

Leo scoffed. "Hardly."

"Where's Tsubame?"

Leo shrugged. "She's been gone about since early this morning. Been a couple of hours now, but I don't know where. She did say that we'll be leaving this evening," Leo added.

"This evening?" Sakura asked.

Leo nodded and as Sakura looked out the window again she muttered, "Might be sooner than that."

"Why is that?" Naoki noticing her distant gaze.

"Was Tsubame expecting company of the conflicting kind?" Sakura asked biting her lip.

Naoki tried to follow her gaze out the window, but saw nothing that could have possibly caught her attention.

"Not that I know of. Why… Nevermind," Naoki said, finally sensing what Sakura had felt all along.

"How did anyone find us?" Sakura asked in a whisper. "I thought no one knew about this place except Tsubame."

"There isn't anyone else who knows, which only means Tsubame led them here for some reason," Leo said.

"What would she do that for?" Sakura asked biting her lip.

"A distraction I'll bet. To make them think she's the problem to be dealt with, that once they're rid of her, their problems will go away," Naoki said.

"Won't it?" Sakura asked.

"If I know Tsubame, she always ensures that when she does something, it causes a domino effect so that even if someone manages to stop her, the damage will be done," Naoki said.

"But she's not here…" Sakura said trailing off.

Naoki and Leo gave her a look, one that she was accustomed to receiving from her own two guardians when she was acting braver than she actually felt.

"Leo, I'll go receive our guests. You stay here with Sakura."

Sakura looked up at that. "No. You don't have to-"

"It's obvious you don't want to face them yet," Naoki replied. "You're afraid to."

Sakura looked down at her feet, clicking her heels together as she said, "No. Not so much afraid…"

"As you are guilty," Leo pointed out laughing.

"No… I mean."

"You not ready to openly reveal what you want. You're not ready to decide whether you'll do what everyone thinks is right or what you want," Naoki said putting a hand on her face. "And that's fine. Tsubame has that kind of effect on people. I don't want you troubling yourself anymore than you have to. Stay here. I'll keep them occupied." Naoki kissed her on the forehead and then began to leave the room. "Stay with her Leo."

Sakura let out a sigh of relief, the color returning to her face a little at the thought that she still had a little more time to think this all through. And to be honest, she was able to better think everything through with Tsubame, Naoki, and Leo. They didn't really expect much of her, not yet anyway. They all knew and accepted that she was still confused, but to go back with her Yue and her Kero and see them look at her with disappointment and what might be betrayal just because she even had the inkling to stay with Tsubame and all because she fell in love with the woman's guardian after they warned her not to get involved with this before, after Yue warned her… It would just be too much for her to deal with. She would rather stay here for a while.

"Noaki."

Naoki turned to look back at her.

"Don't hurt them. You won't will you?"

Naoki hesitated before answering, "It's not a promise, but I'll try."

* * *

Tsubame had been here at some point. Of that much Yue was sure and since the woman seemed to be guiding him to this place, Yue had a feeling she would be back. As much as Yue hated to admit it, there was no way Tsubame was going to miss an opportunity to antagonize him. She enjoyed it if this connection she had going was any indication. Somehow, he had a feeling she wanted him specifically to find her, wanted him specifically to know something, particularly what it was the woman was up to.

"Are you sure she's here?" Syaoran asked turning to scan the entire entrance hall of the temple.

Yue frowned. "This is where she led me. So I'm guessing she's returning here sooner or later."

"Odd," Kero said. "Tsubame never came across as the type of person to hide."

"She's bidding her time. She obviously can't carry out her plan without something happening first," Syaoran pointed out.

"Hopefully Eriol will be able to convince the magic council to help him figure out what," Kero pointed out.

With only one book, a book only based in assumptions and some facts, Eriol didn't have much to go on about what Tsubame's plan to rule the world might be and so he was forced to go and ask the council permission to possibly use their library. While he did that, Tomoyo went back to Japan, having the unfortunate pleasure of explaining everything to Toya. Yue, Kero, and Syaoran on the other hand, had the task of finding Tsubame. Even if Eriol could get an idea of the woman's plan, they all had a feeling that Tsubame wasn't a by the book sorceress, that she would never go about establishing her control the same way her predecessors had tried.

"Maybe. But that's only if she hasn't gotten to the council first. Besides, what better way to end this now that to somehow manage to capture her? Maybe then I'll be able to stop the elders and my mother from forcing my hand against the Reeds. Somehow, I have a feeling that's exactly what Tsubame wants, and I won't play into her hand, not again anyway."

"Tsubame's not foolish enough to play the exact same trick twice. So you may not want to make yourself a promise you can't keep."

Naoki didn't look particularly surprised to see them which only reinforced their suspicion that Tsubame wanted them to find her. He did seem a little annoyed though.

"That's exactly why we wanted to learn what's going on right out the horse's mouth," Syaoran replied.

"She's not here. Why else would I be here to greet you instead?"

"But she led us here, so I guess you'll have to do."

Naoki huffed. "Trust me when I say I'm about as non-the-wiser to Tsubame's plan as you are. It's hard to know what's going through her head."

Yue and Cerberus could relate, though neither agreed aloud.

"But you have an idea?" Syaoran asked.

"It's obvious isn't it?" Naoki asked. "She was never trying to particularly hide it. Just think about it. Why else would she set her sights on turning two powerful allying families against each other? The stronger ties, the bigger the fallout after all."

Yue, Cerberus, and Syaoran exchanged a look. They understood Naoki's implication, but the question was why would he tell them?

"You mean she actually wants to start a war?" Syaoran finally asked. "Is she insane?"

"Exactly," Naoki said though no one was sure what question he was answering.

"But why would you tell us that. Now that we know, we can just-"

"You can't stop it now," Naoki said cutting Cerberus off. "Tsubame is a lot of things, but a liar isn't one of them. Anything and everything she's said is the truth in some form or another whether it's the truth that no one wants to admit or known but unspoken, and Tsubame knows those are the best kinds to stir trouble. You could make her admit before the entire world, and it wouldn't change a thing. Her suggestions still remain the truth. It's only a matter of time. Anything Tsubame does now would just speed up the process. You can't stop it."

"Not the first time someone has said this to us," Cerberus pointed out. "This is no different."

"Of course it's different," Naoki said.

"Why?"

"Because Tsubame's saying it," was all Naoki said.

"You put too much faith in your mistress," Syaoran said.

"About as much as they do."

Yue frowned, now understanding what Naoki meant. Of course this was different, especially since they were essentially deal with another version of Sakura and apparently the determination hadn't changed from one version to another. Once Sakura made up in her mind to do something, even the impossible, nothing short of killing her could stop her and many people were beginning to wonder if that were even possible considering all the scrapes she had gotten out of. Whatever faith Naoki had in the infallibility of Tsubame's plan wasn't misplaced. Chances were her plan was infallible no matter what the odds, because impossible odds meant nothing to Sakura and therefore, probably not to Tsubame either. She had already done the impossible by turning the Reeds and the Li's against each other as it was.

"He's right," Yue admitted. "We can't stop Tsubame."

"Sakura can," Cerberus said.

"But Tsubame's already covered that base," Syaoran reminded.

"Not completely," Naoki admitted seeming annoyed again. "She's here you know. Leo's with her. And even now, as certain as she is of what she wants, she can't bring herself to come to a decision, because she's afraid of what the two of you will think of her."

It was obvious Naoki was taking some type of pleasure in trying to bait them, but despite that, it was working.

"Where is she?" Yue asked.

"Hiding from you three. She didn't want to come down. But it's better this way. You all wouldn't want to force her hand, make her reveal her decision. It might not be in your favor."

"He has to want us to attack him," Syaoran said resisting the urge to grab his sword.

"Quite the contrary," Naoki said. "I said I'd try not to hurt you all, but it wasn't a promise."

"Now Naoki, what have I told you about being mean to guests?"

Tsubame appeared as suddenly as she always did, this time lacking her full disguise or any for that matter.

"I apologize for not being able to properly entertain you, but we have to go," she said.

"You're not going anywhere," Syaoran said this time taking out his sword. "You're coming with us so you can explain yourself to everyone."

Tsubame laughed. "Too late for that. It's done. You could kill me now and it wouldn't change a thing."

"Don't tempt me," Syaoran said.

Tsubame sighed. "We used to be so close Syaoran and now you're pointing your sword at me. I thought we had something special. I thought you would understand, would want to take part in this. But alas, I suppose your loyalties have always been to your family. So if you want to ensure its survival, my advice would be to get with the times. Every world order has its end and like it or not, I'm going to be on top of the new one."

"Not if I have anything to do with it."

Tsubame laughed. "Put the sword down before I make you hurt yourself honey."

Tsubame dismissively began to walk away from them, nodding for Naoki to follow.

"We won't let you leave."

Tsubame stopped, looking over her shoulder, the challenge written all over her face. "You sure about that?"

When he didn't back down, Tsubame turned around.

"Don't say I didn't warn you. Naoki, take Sakura somewhere where she won't have to see all this violence," Tsubame said. "I'll follow you later."

Tsubame didn't wait for anyone to react to that before she used her magic to summon a watery vapor, making the entire area foggy.

"Where'd she go?" Cerberus asked.

"Don't worry about her," Syaoran said firmly. "You two find Sakura."

"Sorry. But I can't let you do that," she said beginning to collect some of the mist and use the air to spin it, forming a horizontal cyclone to attack Cerberus as he made his way to try to follow Naoki.

In between the time it took her to form another attack, Syaoran summoned thunder to his aid, but Tsubame was fast. It took her no time to recover and send about horizontal cyclone hurling his way. Before he could even finish his attack, he had to move out the way.

"She really is as powerful as she claims. Every time she just gets strong and stronger, but even now that she has them, she doesn't use the cards," Cerberus muttered to Yue.

"I don't think you want her to use the cards. I think if she did, she wouldn't have much trouble killing us. But because she's essentially the master over all elements, the elements aren't going to defeat her. We'll have to try something else," Yue replied.

"Like what. Tsubame's always way ahead of everything."

"Yeah," Yue said. "But her guardians aren't. Stay here. I'm following Naoki."

"Yue wait a-" Whatever Cerberus was about to say, Tsubame cut off, apparently noticing where Yue was going and trying to stop him by throwing one of her iron fans. She missed, but both Yue and Cerberus narrowly avoided getting a wing cut off.

In the time it took for them to recover, Tsubame had made her way over to block their way any further into the temple, summoning her fan back to her hand.

"Don't you all know it's rude to leave a partner hanging in the middle of a dance?"

* * *

Sakura busied herself by looking through a trunk Tsubame kept at the foot of her bed. It must have been enchanted with magic, because there was no way so much stuff could fit in a trunk without it.

"Leo, what is all this stuff. It looks so old."

"It is," Leo replied. "Don't let Tsubame's cold exterior fool you. She has a heart, a very sentimental one at that. Though she prefers to leave the past where it is and doesn't want to go back to it, she's very aware that the past made her who she became."

Sakura grabbed a picture frame as she said this, with a picture of a younger Tsubame and Naoki standing next to her, not looking particularly happy to be taking a picture, but not looking completely displeased either.

"Have they always been so close?"

"Naoki and Tsubame?" Leo asked and nodded before Sakura could affirm it. "Tsubame's always looked up to Naoki. Can't blame her. She had no one else to look up to for a long time."

Sakura frowned. "What do you mean?"

"When Tsubame met Naoki, she had already been an orphan for three years."

Sakura almost dropped the picture in surprise. "What?"

"You didn't know?" Leo asked and then continued, "Tsubame's father and brother died when she was twelve. She stayed with her cousin for a while, moved out on her own when she was fourteen and a year later found the Clow cards in a box she was planning to give away."

Sakura stared at Leo, surprised at the revelation.

"She lived by herself?"

"Yeah," Leo replied. "Even stopped going to school for a while before she met Naoki."

"No wonder Tsubame's so…" Sakura trailed off, unable to find a word for it. But Leo seemed to understand what she meant.

"Hard? Yeah. She had to be, especially considering the stuff she did to get money. It was never anything too scandalous, but let's just say she was rather informed about the way the world worked."

Sakura understood now why despite her insecurities about it, Naoki insisted she and Tsubame were much different that Sakura knew. The woman lived her teenage years quite differently than Sakura had.

"Tell me about it," Sakura began. "Tell me what-."

Sakura jumped, hearing a loud crash outside the room.

"What was that?"

"Sounds like Tsubame came back to greet her guests," Leo muttered.

There was another crash and this time, it shook the ground. Sakura stood up, heading toward the door.

"You'll just get in the way if you go out there," Leo said blocking her way.

"But what if they need help?"

Leo scoffed and rolled his eyes. "You're the last person they need it from. Even you have to admit you're not exactly sure what side you're on, despite the fact that Tsubame is confident in the fact that it's on hers."

Sakura's determination to leave faltered a little at his words. He was right. She probably would be more of a hindrance than a help…

"Stay here. I'll see what's going on."

After Leo left, Sakura sat on the bed for a while, nervously shifting her feet as she sensed something, a spike in Tsubame's power, followed by glass shattering all over the floor. But that wasn't what made her get up. What made her get up was hearing another person's cry? Was that… Syaoran? Sakura wasn't sure, but something about the way Tsubame had carelessly used and disregarded Syaoran made her think that the woman had some kind of personal vendetta against him… well, maybe not against him, but certainly against the Li family as a whole and Sakura was beginning to think she wouldn't think much of killing him if she really wanted to. Alas, Tsubame seemed to enjoy playing and toying with her opponents more than anything, so perhaps no one was in any terrible danger. Maybe…

She heard someone cry out again, but this time, Sakura wasn't sure who it was. She stood up, forgetting Leo's warning for her to stay out the way. Tsubame may be toying around, but Tsubame played rough, and Sakura had a feeling she was beginning to get careless with her game.

* * *

**AN:** I would have had this up earlier, but my God this must have been one of those chapters I just decided to write without thinking because it was awful. There were continuity errors to fix, blindingly obvious grammar mistakes and everything you could think of! So this took a little time to clean up and edit. Smh. Then I had to stop because I promised to take my three youngest siblings to the movies today and out for dinner and when I got back I was fooling around with my pokemon black 2. I need to go fool around with a blog for one of my classes but decided to post this, albeit really late. Goodness I can't wait for this semester to be over. It's so busy and I almost made myself sick from being on the go all day and every day which I can totally not afford right now. Yeah I know. Full of stuff happening, but Saturday is never a calm day for me. I will never know what possessed me to chose it as an update day.

Anywho, this is another turning point in the story and the story picks up once again. Some of my favorite scenes are in these next few chapters.

Hope you enjoyed! And **Review Please** if you enjoyed the chapter or even if you didn't, for ff. net has made it so easy to simply put your arrow right in that big box that follows and type a quick review. I do appreciate the comments.


	25. Betrayal

**Chapter Twenty-five  
Betrayal  
**

Sakura was starting to wish she had stayed in Tsubame's room considering how big the temple was. She didn't mind getting lost in it when she had nothing better to do than to explore it, but now, when she had a specific place she wanted to be, the last thing she wanted was to get lost. At first she had been following the noise, but now it was quiet, too quiet, and she was beginning to wonder what the result of the fight that had no doubt been taking place.

Apparently though, it wasn't over yet and there was another cry, but this time one of annoyance from Tsubame. Sakura followed it, write into the entry hall of the temple, vision obscured by a thick mist in the air. Then she saw part of the fog collected together into a horizontal funnel cloud and shoot through the mist. Tsubame's attack thinned the fog a little and so now she could see exactly who the woman was attacking.

"Kero!" she yelled.

This calling out of her guardian's name made Tsubame stop her attack in midair and taking advantage of what appeared to be distraction on Tsubame's part and the fact that because of her attack she was now visible, Syaoran charge right at her with his sword. Tsubame didn't even look away from Sakura as she raised her hand, some invisible force grabbing hold of the sword. Tsubame them raised her hand dismissively, tossing the sword and its owner away from her.

"Syaoran," Sakura yelled unable to help herself as she made her way over to where he had landed, rubbing his head. "You alright?"

"Yeah," Syaoran muttered. "But she must really hate me…"

"I don't think it's so much you as it is the fact that you're a Li."

"What do you mean by that?" Syaoran asked.

Sakura started to reply, but Tsubame answered first. "She's right actually. Me and Syaoran got along famously, despite the difficulties we had with each other. We actually stayed close friends for a long time, but alas I never could get past the fact that he was still a Li and I have a rather… personal vendetta against them."

Sakura sighed, standing up to face Tsubame.

"Tsubame, I know you have better things to do, so let's go. I don't… I don't want…"

"You're not quite sure what you want," Tsubame pointed out. "But you are right. I have better things to do, like get ready for your debut. But it's not my fault. They insisted."

Sakura had to wonder in what way Tsubame had provoked them with her whimsical and challenging nature to make Syaoran and Kero insist, but that was beside the point. The point was if she didn't convince Tsubame that this was a waste of time or rather they had wasted enough time, because Sakura was sure Tsubame knew she was simply wasting her time, Sakura was almost positive Tsubame would let the intruders get away unscathed this time.

"It's strange though. You plead for his life, yet you're not blocking me from attacking him," Tsubame said.

Sakura realized a second too late what Tsubame meant for by the time she did, her alternate self had already formed another attack, this time forming the now dissipating mist around them into ice shards headed straight for Syaoran. Sakura was frozen, not because she was even particularly surprised that Tsubame had attacked, but because Tsubame was right about her not stepping between the two to defend Syaoran.

Someone else got between the two first, stopping the shards in midair. He looked at her out his peripheral vision, in a way that only Yue could with concern despite his no doubt anger at her.

"Are you alright?"

She winced. There was definitely anger and bitterness there, not all at her though. Some of it was directed at Tsubame.

"Fine," she muttered.

He nodded, turning back his attention to the ice shards he had stopped in mid-air. More of the midst collected, causing the shards to grow sharper before they shot in Tsubame's direction. They stopped directly in front of her, but by the tilt of the woman's head curiously as she looked at them, it hadn't been her doing.

She laughed a little as the shards dissipated in thin air and said, "Always so protective of me Naoki, even though I could have protected myself."

The mist finally cleared completely then and Sakura looked to her right to see Naoki floating a few inches off the ground in his true form with his arms crossed, looking displeased about something while Leo stood to his left.

"You can never back down from a fight, can you?" Naoki asked her and Tsubame laughed.

"I could say the same to you. Of course, I was ready to leave but," Tsubame's eyes landed on Sakura, "it's not a matter of backing down now. We can't leave without our dear princess. Honestly Leo. Weren't you supposed to be watching her?"

Leo huffed. "I'd have better luck trying to move a mountain."

"Let's make this easy, shall we?" Tsubame said looking at Sakura. "Ready to go."

Sakura stood stock still, not moving forward in Tsubame's direction but neither backing further into Yue's protective presence. No. They couldn't make her choose now. But Sakura had a feeling that's exactly what Tsubame wanted, for her to choose, for her to show exactly whose side she wanted to be on.

"She's not going. She doesn't want to," Sakura heard Kero say behind her, but even he sounded unsure.

"How do you know that?" Tsubame asked. "How do you know she just doesn't want to disappoint you with her decision? Go on and tell them Sakura. Tell them how much you crave the power I can give you, how it whispers right into your very being because deep inside, you know it's your birthright to be supreme, to have everyone answer to you because you know no one could stop you if they tried."

"Shut up," Syaoran yelled at her.

Tsubame shrugged. "I'm just telling the truth. You don't disagree do you Yue? You know better than anyone else. So tell them that I'm telling the truth. It's only natural. She's a powerful sorcerer. It's inherent."

Something flashed in Yue's eyes, but not just hers. There was something in Naoki's eye too, but it was different. Naoki in anger and Yue in a mixture of that and fear?

"Yue, what is she talking about?" Sakura asked.

"They won't tell you," Tsubame said. "But I will. Everybody in the whole damn world, this universe and mine, hold Clow in such high reverence. Before us there was no one more powerful. He personified the forces of nature for easy access, personified and made mortal the god of the sun and moon, made the very heavens and the earth bow to him. A person doesn't get that kind of power without a terrible superiority complex, without wanting to subject anything and everything he could to him. It comes with the package. Needless to say, because he didn't realize that it twisted him and…"

"And what?"

Tsubame looked at Yue and Cerberus.

"Ask them. Ask them how twisted and insane the great Clow Reed really was," Tsubame said.

"That has nothing to do with this," Yue said finally.

Naoki gave a bitter laugh at that. "It has everything to do with this."

"Don't worry Sakura. They'll come around. But for now…" Tsubame trailed off. "You know what? Just take her Naoki."

Naoki nodded and shot forward to grab her. Cerberus recovered from his stupor first, blocking his way. Not wanting to accidentally hurt Sakura by throwing him out the way, Naoki stopped rolling his eyes a little. The mist appeared again and Sakura sensed Naoki come up behind her to whisk her away, but Yue must have felt the same for he snatched her by the waist.

Sakura had to admit she missed this, being held in his protective embrace. It was different than being held by Naoki, even though they were technically the same person. It felt safer. She loved Naoki, but there was a bond between her and Yue that she could never have with Naoki if only for the mere fact that Naoki already shared a similar bond with Tsubame; only similar though. The difference was at the end of the day, Naoki and Tsubame had this understanding between them, the same one Leo had warned her of in their first conversation with each other. For all intents and purposes, they could literally do no wrong to each other. At the end of the day, though Sakura could always tell when they had a disagreement or the other, it never got between them. But this entire ordeal, it would always be between her and Yue…

With that realization in mind, Sakura stopped Yue before he could whisk them into the air.

"Just stop," she muttered, face buried in his chest. "Tsubame's right."

She expected him to be angry with her, to pull her away and make sure she was thinking straight, but to her surprise he didn't, only said tersely, "I know."

That surprised everyone, even more so when he actually allowed her to pull away from his grip.

"I… I don't want you all to get hurt. Please don't fight. It's too late."

Sakura let go, trying not to cry as she went to Naoki's side and then said, "You knew it all along anyway right? You expected it."

It was said in a bitter tone, all her anger and frustration over the years building into this one moment.

"Prepared for it," Yue admitted.

Sakura laughed a little as the mist began to collect again, obscuring everyone's vision as she said, "Just remember, you betrayed me first."

* * *

Tomoyo sighed hoping Eriol wasn't too busy that he wouldn't pick up his phone. This hadn't quite turned out like they had planned. She was supposed to stay in Japan, not get involved with this alternate version of Sakura, and tell Toya only the bare minimum of what he needed to know concerning this new threat.

Unfortunately, Toya was a little more shrewd when it came to his sister than Tomoyo would have liked. He wasn't too concerned about the new magical threat thing, but if that was the case, why wasn't she picking up her phone? Tomoyo kept to her story, but Toya insisted that if Sakura really was at the magic council's headquaters, he was going to see her.

"_But Toya. I'm not even sure exactly where it is," Tomoyo said though she had every intention of finding out. There was no way Eriol and Syaoran were going to keep her out of the action._

"_We know enough," Toya decided. "We know at least where to fly to, right?"_

Greece, Tomoyo overheard Eriol say. Something about the magical council trying to avoid entanglements with the pope and Catholic Church… She had tried to get into contact with Eriol long before then, long before they even managed to secure the tickets to Greece, but he hadn't picked up his phone, and Toya wasn't one to wait. Hopefully, Eriol would pick up his phone now, before Toya tracked all over Greece to find Sakura.

"_Hello?"_

"Oh thank goodness!" Tomoyo said, from the bathroom stall she had gone in to get away from the noise of the airport.

"_What's going on?"_

"We're in Greece is what."

_Eriol paused. "Who is we?"_

"Me, Toya, and Yukito. Toya didn't buy the story. He knows something is up. I was trying to call you but when you didn't pick up it was either watch him leave or go with him."

Tomoyo heard Eriol sigh, and she got the feeling that the last thing he wanted to do was deal with was an overprotective older brother demanding the truth about where his sister was.

"_Where are you all?"_

"About to leave the airport. We're headed to a hotel for the evening."

"_Tell me where. I'll try to meet you there…"_

Tomoyo bit her lip, nodding though Eriol couldn't see. Then she said, "Eriol what do you want me to tell Toya?"

"_Nothing. I'll try to explain it when I get there…"_

His tone told Tomoyo that was the last thing that he wanted to do, but what choice did he have? He hung up the phone and Tomoyo put it back in her bag, deciding to head out to where Toya was.

"So?" Toya asked when she came out.

"He said he'll meet us at the hotel."

"I thought Sakura was with him."

Darn it…

"She is."

"You're lying. Now tell me the truth right now."

Tomoyo wasn't sure he even wanted to know. She wasn't even certain what the truth was. Sure she had seen Tsubame whisk Sakura away, but Tomoyo had to wonder if Sakura hadn't let her. After all, Sakura seemed to know a lot about Tsubame ahead of time that she had no intention of revealing before she was forced to reveal it. To be honest though, Tomoyo wasn't quite sure she blamed her. There was a certain sincerity to Tsubame that was hard to ignore whatever her intentions might be, which made Tomoyo wonder if Tsubame was truly evil or just extremely ambitious. But she doubted Toya wanted to hear that.

"Eriol will tell you when he gets here. I'm not even sure. Nothing's really black and white right now Toya."

* * *

The magic council's estate was in the hills and mountains of Greece, nearly impossible to get to without the aid of magic, right outside of the city of Athens. It was truly impressive, although not like the temple Tsubame had housed them at. That had been something truly sublime, but the magic council's estate was nice enough in its own way and peaceful. That was a curse and a blessing all the same. The last thing Sakura wanted was peace because peace gave her the chance to think. For every trick Tsubame pulled, every suggestion, everything the woman simply let happen, Sakura was learning that nine times out of ten, it furthered her goal in some way. Tsubame did nothing in complete innocence, even though she faked it well. And Sakura should know. She had occasionally played the same trick well enough and therefore she couldn't blame Tsubame for purposely leading Yue, Kero, and Eriol to the temple, goading them into battle knowing that Sakura would come down to make sure they were okay, and knowing that at the end of the day, Sakura would follow her, this time openly and willingly.

"Amazing view out here isn't it."

Sakura blinked as she turned to look at Tsubame who for once wasn't in some regal looking, but dressed in rather casual but classy fashion Sakura was used to when she was using Misa as her guise which consisted of black slacks, a silk blouse, her ever present ring, and pumps to make her look taller. More than any other time, Sakura found her true guise to be truly uncanny. At least when she was in her kimonos, Sakura could still separate them. But while she was there dressed like a normal person with her brown hair out and green eyes staring contemplatively at the site, it was hard to forget how truly alike they were.

"Won't someone see you?" Sakura asked. She had been under the impression that Tsubame didn't want anyone to know who she was.

"No one's out here," Tsubame said leaning on the balcony, actually relaxing to Sakura's amazement.

They were silent for a while as they looked at the view, particularly the city of Athens that wasn't too far away.

Finally, Tsubame said, "It's named after one of us you know?"

"What?"

"Athens. They named it after a powerful and very intelligent sorceress named Athena. The Greeks worshipped her. The Romans did too, although they called her Minerva. Neither was probably her real name."

"Were all the gods just powerful sorcerers?"

Tsubame scoffed. "Of course they were. You've heard the stories. Granted, some of them aren't true, but the so-called Greek and Roman gods or any of the legendary gods for that matter were human. Damn hard to kill, but human nonetheless, and they had all the weakness and shortcomings that humanity is known to have. They were just like you and I, but a lot weaker. Supposedly Zeus was the mightiest of the gods, yet he could never quite bring all the other gods under his complete control. I never completely identified with them."

"Why not?"

"Because I am more powerful than they ever were. I can control and manipulate everything they can and then some and I'm not as conceited, at least I hope not. The gods were stupid. They had so much power it drove them crazy, so crazy that it eventually gave way to their downfall. Power without having any way to channel it drives a person crazy. It drove Clow crazy."

"I'm beginning to get the feeling you aren't his biggest fan."

"Don't get me wrong," Tsubame said sighing. "He gave me Naoki and Leo, created the cards to help me kick start my magic, and was all around brilliant, but it's always the brilliant ones who are two steps shy of insanity unless they have something to ground them. The worst thing Clow could have ever done was hole himself up to play with magic. There's this saying in the religious world. An idle mind is the devil's workshop and how true it was for him. Clow was just like the gods, except he was at least smart enough not to have any children and start that craziness over again," Tsubame added dryly.

Sakura looked at Tsubame who was now taking in the view Sakura had been only moments before. But Sakura had the feeling Tsubame wasn't really seeing it.

"Then what makes us different from them?"

Tsubame sighed. "I used to ask myself that question all the time. What would make me different from the ancient gods…? Eventually I figured out it was because I didn't ask for any of it. I didn't ask to be a sorceress. I didn't actively go looking for a way to make the forces of nature bow to my command. I became queen by accident truthfully. But it couldn't be avoided. If I had kept running, I would have ended up just like them. So eventually I stopped running and said what the hell? You're just like me in that sense. You've been running from a greater destiny too by denying your magic and trying to be normal. Trust me. It's not worth the trouble. I made my life harder than it needed to be."

The way Tsubame looked at Sakura gave the impression that she was waiting for Sakura to ask her something and so Sakura guessed the woman was expecting it when she asked, "Is that why you let them find us?"

"It had to be done eventually. It would have been harder later, or you would have talked yourself out of it. But don't worry. They'll come around," Tsubame replied. "Naoki and Leo always do."

Tsubame still didn't answer the question, at least not directly, but it was answer enough. Before Sakura could say anything else, Tsubame spoke again.

"Takita has agreed to put you on the magic council as my representative of sorts. They think they'll be able to keep an eye on me by allowing it, but what they don't know is that it's really the other way around. I'm sure they'll send someone to further instruct you later."

"But… Tsubame, what am I supposed to do. I'm no good at this stuff. Besides, the council… we didn't leave on the best of terms last time we met."

"Exactly," Tsubame said.

Sakura started to ask what she meant but someone else cut in from the doorway.

"There you two are. What are-"

Naoki stopped, eyes landing on Tsubame as she turned around to face him. Smiling a little, Tsubame said, "Cat got your tongue love?"

He rolled his eyes. "I was under the impression you didn't want anyone to know who you were."

Tsubame shrugged. "No one's around to see. Besides, I was feeling a little constricted."

She started to leave.

"Where are you going?"

Tsubame laughed a little. "Even though this is technically my room, I don't want to intrude on you two. So I'm allowing you to borrow it while I step out."

She continued past Naoki to leave. Even though he was looking at the ground, Sakura noticed him a little and it wasn't until he spoke again that she realized it was directed at Tsubame.

"Long time no see Sakura," he said to the woman just as she opened the door.

It was the first time Sakura had ever heard Naoki or anyone call Tsubame by her real name, and he said it to her with the same gentleness and fragility he did when saying it to her.

Tsubame laughed again. "I know."

Sakura could help but feel like she had been viewing a strangely personal and intimate encounter between the two as she watched Tsubame leave the room and close the door behind her. As a result she felt a strange stirring in her stomach, one she hadn't been acquainted with in a while. It was jealousy, but not necessarily of Tsubame. Before she could ponder why she felt that way anymore, Naoki spoke.

"You may want to come inside. It's going to rain," he said nodding for her to follow him inside.

As if to agree with him, she heard the sound of thunder rolling in from the distance and shuddered a little in fear. She hated thunderstorms. She closed the door to the balcony behind her and then jumped when she heard thunder again, closer this time.

"You okay?" he asked coming behind her.

Sakura shrugged, resting her hand on the glass. "I guess so. It's just…"

Sakura wasn't sure how to put it in words. But it was odd not having Yue or Cerberus to turn to for everything, not that she hadn't been away from them before. But she had always known they were there to help her if she thought she might need it, if she got into a little too much trouble. Never would she have thought that she would have willing put a distance between them.

"It's not forever," Naoki said. "The three of you may not know it, but you all are bonded together by the red string of fate, and it's not a tie easily severed."

Sakura wasn't even going to ask how he knew what she was thinking and so said, "Still. I mean, I know you, Leo and Tsubame are here but…"

"A sorceress has to learn to stand on her own two feet at one point or another before she can truly learn what it means to stand with others."

"Did Tsubame?"

Naoki scowled. "She had to learn the opposite. She'd been by herself and taking care of herself since she was twelve, so it took her a while to realize that though she could stand by herself, she didn't have to."

More and more, Sakura was beginning to wonder exactly how Tsubame got caught up in this mess, exactly what made her into the sometimes strange woman she was. Just as she started to ask Naoki though, thunder boomed, this time much closer. Sakura yelped then, turning around to cling to Naoki.

He chuckled a little and said, "It's okay. Just a little thunder."

Sakura whined a little, leaning further into his embrace. Her fear of thunderstorms was a fear that she hadn't quite grown out of unlike her fear of ghosts. But usually when there was a bad storm, she sat on the floor leaning against Yue, with Kero in his true form huddled in her lap. Even though Naoki was with her now, allowing her to cling to him, it wasn't quite the same as having Yue and Kero with her.

There was thunder again, this time accompanied by lightning. She closed her eyes this time, and hoping to comfort her a little, Naoki pulled her back a little and kissed her on the forehead. She sighed in relief some and seeing that it gave her some comfort, he began to rain kisses all over her face, down her neck, causing her to moan quietly, distracting her from the worsening storm. When he worked his way back up, he took her lips to his, thrusting his tongue in her mouth to elicit another moan from her.

He began to back away from her, even as she leaned forward to keep him from doing so. When she finally did let him stop, she looked at him for a moment and then looked frowned and said, "Don't you still want me?"

"Not if this is only a distraction for you," Naoki replied.

Sakura leaned back a little, not sure if he meant the storm or what they had been talking about earlier. Regardless, she let him finish first.

"I know this has all been overwhelming for you. I just want you to be certain this is still what you want."

Sakura blushed as she looked up at him, meeting his eye as she stepped closer to him and wrapped her arms around him.

"I'm sure. I mean… I know I haven't acted like it lately and I've been a little distant, but I still care about you. I know that now. If I wasn't certain of that, I think I would have gone back with Yue and Kero."

Naoki looked her directly in the eye. "You sure about that?"

"What's that mean?"

"Just that I think that decision had more to do with Tsubame than it had to do with me," Naoki pointed out.

That might have been true, but it was a truth Sakura didn't quite want to face at the moment. So instead, she gave him a wry look and asked, "Are you really trying to convince me not to do this? Because if you're trying to preserve my innocence, it's a little late for it."

He probably thought about her comment for all of half a second before responding with a kiss, a more aggressive one, the kind Sakura had come to grow used to from him. While she appreciated his desire not to force her into anything, Sakura had days to think about this and she wasn't a little child feeling pressured by someone she loved and would regret it later. She wanted this.

Sakura sucked on his bottom lip some, trying to coax his mouth open. He did so, but thrust his tongue into her mouth before she could attempt the same with his. She whimpered, already starting to feel the familiar fire of desire burning through her and pooling between her legs. She wanted to feel his skin against hers, to feel his warmth. Naoki must have had the same idea because he had already gotten rid of the belt that held her yellow wrap dress together and was now tugging it down her arms. It fell onto the floor, getting kicked aside as her guided her over to the nearest piece of furniture, the couch, but first Naoki got rid of her bra and panties. Then they fell back on the couch.

"Wait a minute," Sakura said trying and failing to detach her lips from Naoki. "My shoes."

"Leave them," Naoki said beginning to run kisses down her jaw and neck.

Sakura didn't object, instead beginning to undo the buttons of his shirt as his lips returned to hers. Normally, buttons weren't much of a problem, but Sakura's impatience wasn't helping matters, or the fact that his hands were rubbing her thighs, getting close to, but carefully avoiding the most sensitive part of her.

She managed it despite the difficulty she had with it and removed the item starting to pull his against her, but he resisted and pulled away from her completely, retracting his warmth from her. He straddled her, eyes on her breasts and as he began to caress them, he said, "I haven't been as attentive to this part of your body lately as I should be."

"Really?" Sakura asked fighting down her blush. She still wasn't used to him looking at her like this.

"Really," he said kissing her once more and then moving his mouth to her breasts.

He planted a kiss on both nipples first and then continued to kiss circles around and in between them, every now and then sucking on and nipping on the sensitive skin there. Sakura hissed at the sensation, feeling a familiar tingling in her body and the frustrating throbbing between her legs. She squirmed under him, trying to find some position that would better relieve her ache, but that was difficult with Naoki straddling her.

She moaned as he licked around one of her nipples and then took it between his lips to play with it before letting it go and doing the same with the other. Sakura lifted her hips against his then, the throbbing heat between her legs getting worse as he continued to tease her breasts.

"Naoki," she whined.

He took her whole nipple into her mouth then, licking around the tip with his tongue before sucking on it. She gasped, lifting her hips again. He sucked on it again, this time pulling on it and letting it fall out his mouth before taking it again and doing the same once more before moving to her other breast. She moaned loudly that time, urging him on, feeling that familiar ache become its worst. He consented, licking around the opposite nipple, sucking it, taking her entire breast into his mouth and sliding his mouth off of it.

"Naoki… Ah… Ah."

She felt her core suddenly tighten and then came the release she had been wanting as Naoki sucked on her breast once more. She held him to her tightly as she shuddered with her release and tried to catch her breath again. When she could manage words she met his eyes and shyly said, "I didn't know you could do that."

"It doesn't always work," he said as he lifted off her to remove his shoes and remaining clothing. "But I was curious today."

By the time he finished his statement, he had gotten rid of his pants and was again hovering over her. He kissed her again, hands running over the curves of her body. He pressed kisses all over her face as he said, "It feels like so long since I've had you."

"I know," she said instinctively starting to wrap her legs around him, but he stopped her.

"Let's try something different," he said and suddenly flipped her over.

Sakura caught herself on her hands and knees, about to ask what he meant until arm wrapped around her still sensitive breasts and the other went over her thigh to cup her core. Then he was inside her and until that moment, Sakura hadn't known how much she had missed that feeling, that feeling of being filled and with his hand cupping the outside of her and other arm on her breast, she could have cried at the feeling of pleasure mixed with the torturous ache of need.

He began his thrust inside her, deeply, and she spread her knees more to accommodate him.

"Ah… Ah… Oh.. Na-Naoki."

She reached up to grip the arm that was supporting her around her torso, preventing her breasts from bouncing. She bit her lip as the muscles in her core tightened painfully and then she screamed when her release finally came, almost like not have one these past few days had contributed to the heightened pleasure of her orgasm. She would have collapsed if it weren't for him holding her up and pressing her back against his chest as he continued to thrust into her. By the time he came inside her, she had reached a second orgasm, her legs shuddering with the spasms of her sex muscles.

His head was buried in her neck and though he was leaning forward slightly, like he wanted to collapse, he didn't still holding her up though his grip had slackened and was a little slippery because of their sweat. He let her go, carefully laying her on the sofa. Naoki kissed her once on the neck before saying, "The storm's almost over."

Sakura blinked. She had forgotten there even was a thunderstorm. How was she supposed to notice anything when he was doing those things to her? Then again, maybe that had been the point to make her feel safe and secure even in the midst of something she feared.

"I didn't notice," she finally admitted.

* * *

**AN:** I was not happy with this chapter. There a bunch of version of this chapter floating around on my computer and this just happened to be the one I liked most. This is one of those times I wish I had an editor to suggest how to write these scenes or what to do with them. Originally this was two separate chapters in two separate places, but I switched some things around and ended up with this massively long chapter. I guess I owe it to you though considering I didn't update last week. Blame it on school and me not liking my teacher, who I told off and called a bad professor this week and was sure was the end of my academic career. We apologized though and he gave me the feedback I needed for an assignment (finally!).

I almost took out the lemon at the end but decided it was time. Besides, I didn't feel like it was forced when I wrote it, so it must belong there, right? Maybe not. Shrugs. Either way, I hated this chapter for the mere fact that I couldn't get it right, the way it was written in my head. So I leave this chapter to be judged by my readers while I go update my blog for school and hope my teacher saw my resubmitted assignment.

Hope you enjoyed! And **Review Please** if you enjoyed the chapter or even if you didn't, for ff. net has made it so easy to simply put your arrow right in that big box that follows and type a quick review. I do appreciate the comments.


	26. Making the World Tic

**Chapter Twenty-six  
Making the World Tic  
**

"You let her go!"

Yue sighed. He had just gotten so annoyed at Cerberus for muttering about Tsubame and Naoki and kidnapping that in his annoyance and attempts to get his brother to shut up, he let it be known that he had willing let Sakura leave with them. That hadn't been one of his better ideas, but Yue was beginning to think he had lost his ability to reason considering everything that was going on.

"Yue!"

"What?" Yue asked.

"You let her go."

"Yes. There was no point fighting her. She wanted to go," Yue said sighing.

"That didn't mean you were supposed to just let her. She…"

Yue couldn't take it anymore. Tsubame's words had gotten to him in more ways than one and since Cerberus wasn't letting him wallow in his own self pity in the inn at the nearby town they had found, he was going to take it out on him.

"This is exactly what Tsubame meant, exactly why Sakura left in the first place. Sakura's practically an adult now. She knows what she's getting into and even if she doesn't, she obviously doesn't care." Yue failed at trying to make his tone say neutral.

"And there's your problem. Tsubame spelled that out too. Face it. In the back of your mind you were just waiting for her break your trust even though she's proved it again and again. Well trust is a two way street Yue. Face it. If you're feeling wronged here, you brought this on yourself."

Yue started to respond, anger, frustration, and fatigue all beginning to get the best of him, but Syaoran stepped in between them.

"Just stop it you to. This is what Tsubame wants. This is what she does. She turns people against each other and unfortunately, she manages it with the truth. But if we allow her to keep doing it, she wins. We can't beat her if we're fighting each other."

He had a point, a valid one. But it did nothing to quell the various emotion running through Yue and the obvious tension in the room. So he stood up and made his way outside, hoping it would help him cool off some. The only place he could think of to go was the prayer temple nearby. It would be quiet and even if Cerberus decided to follow them, he had enough respect for something regarded as holy that he wouldn't pester him again.

He decided to admire it for a while. The intricate designs on the marble and gold, along with the hanging beads were simple, but served as a welcome distraction

"Beautiful isn't it?"

Apparently he wasn't the only one with the idea to come here and cool off…

"I've seen better," Yue replied.

"True, but can you truly judge the beauty and worth of something that was erected for people to come and worship what they believe in? I don't think it's possible to judge or compare."

Yue had to give the woman (who sounded like Tomoyo) that. But even so, he wasn't in the mood to talk. And so he started to tell the woman this until she stepped forward, walking past him and closer to the shrine. She looked like a card, quite similar to LIGHT actually. But Yue knew the cards like the back of his hand and to be honest, he wasn't sure if this was a spirit or human. It was hard to tell.

She turned around to face him after a while, smiling gently at him, hand clasped in front of her and a pendant around her neck, though it was obscured by her cloak. Her pale hair blew in the breeze a little as she said, "Just like you can't judge a shrine like this, you also can't judge a person based on the actions that are similar to those who have gone before them Yue. Everything is not what it looks like. Even Tsubame is not what she appears to be. She used to be similar to your Sakura."

Yue wasn't surprised that she knew his name or knew the situation they were facing as he had suspected this woman was a spirit to begin with, but that brought about another concern. Unless they had a master like the cards did, spirits rarely concerned themselves with the affairs of the mortal world (at least not willingly), mostly because they were only the personification of whatever they represented, no matter how much or how little.

Regardless, Yue answered, "I find that hard to believe."

The spirit sighed. "It's not really. Just look at your mistress. She hid the fact that she knew Misa was a sorceress, didn't mention that she happened to be the wife of the head of the Li Clan, was going to hide that she had figured out who Tsubame was, practically let Tsubame kidnap her and at the end of the day, she went back with her when she had the chance to leave. Not too much of a far cry from Tsubame except Tsubame is much more cunning and open about her desires."

That took away any argument that Yue might have had in disagreement with the woman, but instead of being smug about it she smiled a little, sadly almost and said, "Tsubame wasn't born evil. Actually, she's not really evil now. Circumstances made her this way. Tsubame may seem in control now, but she was thrown into something that was out of her control a long time ago that started her down this road. And when she got a taste of power, a taste of control, she couldn't stop herself."

"I find it hard to believe Tsubame's not evil now," Yue said dryly.

"From your point of view, but she's actually a rather just queen. It's when she's trying to take out world powers and accomplish her ambitions that she seems rather ruthless and cold. But no… Tsubame's not evil. It's a long story. I can't tell you about it right now. I don't have much time. Listen to me."

"You haven't given me a reason to."

She sighed, moving to circle around him before settling in front of him again.

"Even now you compare me based on a similarity I have to someone who hurt you in the past. If I had wanted to hurt you, I would have. If Sakura wanted to hurt you, she would have."

"She did," Yue said unable to keep the bitterness out his tone because it was the truth, but not only that. It was worse because…

"You hurt her first. An eye for an eye Yue," the woman said. "You two have a lot to discuss when you finally meet again. But don't worry. You two are tied together with the red string of fate. It'll work out. You'll see."

Yue didn't answer her, at least not in response to her declaration. He did ask, "What did you come here for?"

"If you want to stop Tsubame, it is best that you know right now that Tsubame only has one weakness, and it's too risky to exploit because it might just spur her wrath further rather than stopping her."

"And what's that?"

"Naoki," the woman said as though it were obvious. "If it meant saving him, the world and anyone in it be damned. Don't get me wrong though, she'd go to about the same lengths for Leo, but not like Naoki."

For some reason, this sentiment certainly didn't make sense. He had watched the two and as far as Yue was concerned, the two looked like they rather have nothing to do with each other beyond the perimeters of mistress and guardian and quite possibly close companions. But beyond that…

"It's not too far-fetched," the spirit said with a smile. "You and Sakura don't seem close on first glance sometimes either."

Touché, Yue thought to himself.

"Trust me on this one. For all her cunning and deception, Tsubame has a strong sense of loyalty. So going after someone she cares for isn't an option… You'll have to tackle this the hard way."

"It would help if we knew what she was planning to do with this war she's trying to start. It makes no sense. Why would she start something that's guaranteed to get out of hand?" Yue said more to himself than the spirit because traditionally while it was easy for sorcerers to stay out of non-magical wars, magical wars were almost always global.

"That's the point. She wants it to get out of hand so she can be the one to resolve it. She would be the only one who could resolve it."

"How?" Personally Yue didn't understand how Tsubame would get people, who she had manipulated and betrayed and knew that she had started this feud in the first place because she hadn't made it a secret, to turn to her to resolve it. It was ridiculous.

"The woman controls all the forces of nature. It might not be a peaceful resolution, but she can resolve a war. It wouldn't be that hard for her to get all the opposing sides to back her instead of opposing her on a united front for starting this mess to begin with. Even so, Tsubame's smart. She learns everything about you from everything you don't tell her and in return she'll tell you everything without telling anything at all. The last thing you want to do is underestimate her like the Li's and the Reed's have done. You could just tell them this was an elaborate ploy, but the damage is done. There's no taking it back."

"In other words, because Tsubame hasn't tried to hide her agenda from anyone, everyone will be more inclined to trust her?" Yue asked. It sounded so simple, so simple that it was ludicrous, but it was the simplicity in the logic that made it make sense on a more complex level.

The spirit nodded. "Exactly. Tsubame never lies, maybe exaggerates a little, but she never lies. She always tells the truth. Remember that and no matter what she says, no matter how true it is, know your allies. Know who you can trust and remember she's the common enemy. Don't let Tsubame turn your friends into enemies. No matter what it looks like always remember who your friends are."

"It's too late for that."

The spirit smiled. "Friends fight Yue. Friends hurt each other more than enemies, but it's only when they let that get between them that it does damage. If you all can get past this, then defeating her won't be so hard."

"You still haven't told me how to stop Tsubame."

"You don't. It would be too dangerous to stop her war now. Just wait and remember everything I told you. Night always turns into day," the spirit said as she began to fade away some.

"Wait. What spirit are you exactly?"

She laughed a little. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you. Just trust me. Now that Tsubame has started, you have to let her run her course otherwise no one will be able to stop the real threat that will follow."

She was gone before Yue could ask her about the threat that was going to follow, but her presence still lingered. He had a feeling whoever she was, she'd be periodically checking in to make sure he listened to her.

* * *

Tomoyo had left to sit in the living room of the suite with the news flashing before her eyes. She didn't understand the words coming from the television, nor could she read the captions below the pictures as she didn't know the Greek language, but it was pretty obvious that the breaking news was about a growing open conflict between the U.S. and China. People were calling it the next World War. What they didn't know was that the real war was against Tsubame, the one that started all this mess and it made Tomoyo wonder how intelligent Tsubame really was. For her to pull something this massive in three months meant Tsubame knew things that the average sorcerer trying to rule the world didn't know, a lot more than just what would make two families tick. She knew what would make the world tick.

Eriol came out the other room causing Tomoyo to jump. Toya's shouts and the ensuing argument after Eriol revealed the real truth about what was going on had become a part of the background noise, so she hadn't notice when it stopped.

He sat next to her, crossing his arms.

"I have to give it to Tsubame," Eriol said. "She's a lot smarter than her predecessors."

"Yeah. Sakura's fought some crazy magicians, but none like this."

Eriol shook his head. "I'm not talking about them. They aren't even in Tsubame's league. I'm talking about the gods."

"Oh," Tomoyo said quietly feeling a little stupid although it wasn't Eriol's intentions. "It's still hard to believe that the legends about the gods were just stories about powerful sorcerers and their families."

"All legends are based in fact Tomoyo, remember that," Eriol said sighing. "The magic council has a very thorough and massive library. It's going to take a while longer, but I managed to do a little more research on them. They were powerful magicians who were constantly fighting for dominance over each other and at the end of the day, were overpowered when lesser sorcerers and people without magic rebelled against them in favor of things like democracy and religion. That didn't stop their descendants from trying to recover though. But when monarchies and dynasties died out, they had no chance. I'm beginning to suspect that the magic council is the remnants of those families and Tsubame knows it. I have the distinct impression she'd already put this idea in their head that she can put them back on top."

"I just can't believe Sakura would go along with this. This is war. This is…"

"Tsubame didn't get to Sakura with visions of grandeur and ruling, Tomoyo," Eriol pointed out.

"Then how?"

Eriol smiled. "She used Sakura's greatest strength against her. You and I both know that if there's anyone who has the endless ability to be loving and compassionate, it's Sakura and once Sakura latches on, it's hard to let go. More than anything, I just think Sakura liked Naoki enough that she was willing to tolerate Tsubame's ambitions. I don't think she honestly believes in them."

Tomoyo then spoke before she could think about keeping the comment to herself.

"Yue and Cerberus could bring her back."

"What makes you say that?"

Tomoyo sighed, realizing that she would have to explain to Eriol how complicated this entire mess really was.

"Well, Sakura doesn't just let people go like that and I'm pretty sure that if Naoki and Leo weren't there to help her fill the void, it wouldn't take much to bring her back, but as it is, I think Naoki and Leo treat Sakura the way she wishes Yue and Kero would," Tomoyo pointed out. "Sometimes I think they still see her as the ten-year-old she was seven years ago."

Eriol winced. "I know the feeling…"

"How?"

Eriol sighed. "You don't really think it's easy to be the reincarnation of Clow Reed do you, or at least half of it anyway. It's odd. Either people are reminding me that I am or reminding me that I'm not. It depends on what they want or don't want me to do. I wish someone would look past that and just see Eriol, but that's beside the point."

"No. It's okay," Tomoyo said softly. "I didn't know you felt that way."

Eriol shrugged. "I've learned to ignore it. It's okay. Anything else you might know that will help."

"Oh. Yue and Sakura… There's more to their relationship that either let on."

Eriol rolled his eyes. "Somehow, I'm not surprised. Clow always intended for them to be together one way or another."

"Like he made her for her."

"No… Not like that. It's complicated, but to put things simple, he thought maybe Sakura could heal Yue. He had good intentions but when it came to matters of the heart, Clow wasn't the one to ask," Eriol said.

"I don't get it."

Eriol grimaced. It might be better that he didn't tell Tomoyo the truth, the insanity that was behind the great sorcerer known as Clow Reed. Well, it wasn't as much insanity as it was being a tad out of touch with reality every now and then. But maybe Tomoyo could help rectify this entire situation if she knew. She was good at things like this.

Just as he opened his mouth to explain it to her though, something on the news caught Eriol's attention. He grabbed the remote to turn it up and then cursed.

"What?" Tomoyo asked, not sure what had just happened.

"Apparently, the U.S. just declared war on China."

Tomoyo's jaw dropped. "That quickly."

"It wouldn't have been if it was just a matter that didn't involve the magical community, but no one really knows how much influence the magical community has in governments. They can get things moving along quite quickly when they have to and considering the state of the global economy, it didn't take much. Still, you're right. Tsubame must have talked to more than just the Reed's and the Li's to manage something this terrible so quickly," Eriol pointed out.

"What do we do?"

Eriol was silent, as though contemplating his options. But after a while he finally said, "I honestly don't know."

* * *

**AN:** I'm not dead! School was simply kicking my ass so I decided to give it a good kick back at the end of the semester and passed with flying colors (meaning I'm still an all A and B student). Then school got out and things got really, really hectic. That and I've been working on a personal project. I was actually looking for updates to some of my favorite fanfics and when I saw none decided I couldn't complain because it's been nearly two months since I updated this fic. So I decided maybe it's time for me to start back updating with it being a new year and all and maybe, just maybe some of my favorite authors will update too!

Hope you enjoyed! And **Review Please** if you enjoyed the chapter or even if you didn't, for ff. net has made it so easy to simply put your arrow right in that big box that follows and type a quick review. I do appreciate the comments.


	27. Chaos

**Chapter Twenty-seven  
Chaos**

"Tragic, isn't it?"

Sakura looked away from the television Tsubame had on. The woman was following quite closely the now declared war between the U.S. and China. And though everything was going according to plan, Sakura could see that Tsubame still wasn't happy about it for some reason.

"Doesn't it anger you Sakura?"

Sakura wasn't sure if that was a trick question or not and so waited for Tsubame to continue.

"Everyone is going to want to blame me for starting this, but little old me wouldn't have been able to do a thing if there wasn't anything behind the scenes to work with. Remember Sakura, when dealing with a bunch of nations who's number one goal is the advancement, security, and livelihood of their people first and humanity later, alliances, friendships, and peace are a sham. Trust me, by the time I'm done, the world will be better off. Anyway, tell me, how was your first day as a council member."

Sakura shrugged. "Boring for the most part."

Tsubame laughed. "Probably."

"That and something about an effort to mediate this war before it gets too bad," Sakura added.

"It's too late for that. It's going to get worse, but we'll humor them. Where are they suggesting you go?"

"Well, considering everything that happened in China, they want me to go to the U.S. and learn something about Jonathon Reed."

Tsubame scowled. "Although I see why they'd want that, just make sure you're careful when dealing with him. He's young and an eligible bachelor at that. He likes beautiful women, especially those of the innocent charming persuasion."

"What are you saying…?"

"He's not good at taking no for an answer," Tsubame said dryly. "But Americans are like that."

"Should I be worried?"

"I'm saying that he's not a bad guy, so you don't have to worry about anything too terrible, but he may harass you a little. Don't worry. I'll send Naoki with you," Tsubame said dryly. "Anything else?"

Sakura shook her head, everything that Tsubame might have wanted to know had been said, not that Sakura thought any of it was important, but considering how scheming the woman was, maybe it was. Regardless, this was the first time Sakura had Tsubame to herself to ask her about her past. She was too uncertain to ask in front of Naoki or Leo.

"Tsubame," Sakura began.

"Hm?"

"You talk a lot about your world, your universe, yet I don't know anything about you."

"I don't talk about my universe that often."

"No," Sakura admitted. "Not directly, but you know everything here based on what you know there."

"That's because they aren't all that different. The big picture is the same, but it's the details that make the true differences. Someone makes a different choice, someone reacts in a different way and somewhere down the line you end up with an entirely different outcome… What do you want to know?"

"How did… How…"

"How did my brother and father die?" Sakura nodded. "Carbon monoxide poisoning. Very anti-climatic and simple, don't you think? Probably came from a gas leak or something. I don't know. But I was at a sleepover and the next morning, I went to the house and found them. I was twelve when that happened."

Tsubame remained her whimsical, normal self as she said it, as though she hadn't just told Sakura how she had left and then come home to find her family dead when she was twelve. Sakura couldn't imagine how traumatic that had to be for her, despite the casual way Tsubame had explained it.

"That's… That's terrible."

"I thought so at the time. But after a few centuries, it goes away when you see more terrible things. Life's a bitch, but you can either let it overcome you or fight back."

"You fought back?"

"Eventually. It took a while though," Tsubame said smiling as though reminiscing over a fond memory. "I lived with my cousin for a while, but found it a little constricting and moved out."

"How did you make money to take care of yourself?"

"Compensated dating. I was really popular amongst most of the people in upper echelons of society. I guess that came from living with Sonomi and learning how to be all prim, proper, and ladylike. I just kept some older rich men company, and they gave me money, sometimes would pay my rent if I let them molest me a little," she said shrugging. "I got by. When I found the cards, Naoki made me stop and I focused on school. I will never know how he managed to help us make a living, but whatever. Even then though, I didn't stop the dating thing. Something about knowing how much power I could hold over these men just by being coy and flirty empowered me. Although, I'll admit, it got out of hand once or twice."

Sakura's mind went back to when Tsubame implied that her first time hadn't been remotely special or enjoyable. Sakura always thought there was more to that story than Tsubame had told at the time and now Sakura knew what it was. But it also explained how Tsubame knew so much about charming men and why she wasn't so shy about it. Granted, who would be shy about anything after a few centuries, but it was the openness with which Tsubame spoke about these things with others and made it no secret that was different.

Sakura started to ask more, seeing that Tsubame didn't seem to mind talking about her past as much as Sakura thought she would have but then she yawned. Tsubame patted her on the thigh.

"You've had a long day, and tomorrow will undoubtedly be a longer one."

"Why is that?" Sakura asked.

Tsubame smiled. "We're going to visit an old friend of mine… Well, she was a friend in my universe."

"But the council…"

"Your position on the council is just a formality Sakura. Remember that if someone else will take care of the dirty work for you, don't go out of your way to do it yourself. Our active presence might do more harm than it will good. We'll make our way back to visit the Reeds in due time," Tsubame said dismissively.

Something about the way she spoke told Sakura that there was something else Tsubame wanted to talk to Sakura about, but the woman, for the first time that Sakura could ever recall, was being hesitant about it for some reason. A sinking feeling came over Sakura as she got the feeling she wasn't going to like whatever it was Tsubame said next.

She watched as Tsubame slipped off the bracelet that had contributed to starting this entire war.

"We're going to visit Marie Voss. Have you heard of her?"

Sakura shook her head.

"Hm. Surprising. Seeing her obsession with death, you would think she had come to you for help, but you've been low key for the last five years I suppose. She probably doesn't even think you're worth her time," Tsubame said twisting the bracelet in her hand. "I need something from her, but she's not going to give it to me."

"And what's that?"

"Her loyalty of course and trust me when I say it's not easy to get."

"Why's that?"

Tsubame laughed. "Marie's the type of woman whose loyalty depends on which way the wind blows. She does things for the benefit of herself, her name, and her family. She disowned her own daughter a few years ago for doing something that tarnished their name. She'll help me so long as everything looks to be in my favor and though it will be, I can't take the risk that I may have a setback that will send Marie marching to fight for the other side. So I need something more binding, something more concrete."

"I'm guessing it's some token," Sakura replied looking at the bracelet.

"Yeap," Tsubame said and then took out a silver broach. "In my universe, when Marie and I met after I first became queen, she gave me this broach, her crest, a symbol of her loyalty."

"It's fake?" Sakura guessed.

"Sure was," Tsubame said. "I was amused though, and found it a welcome relief from my new duties to find a way to get the real one from her. I eventually figured out that she wears one of her real crests on a pair of diamond stud earrings."

Sakura frowned. "Isn't that a little dangerous?"

"Where better?" Tsubame asked. "People guard their body and lives more than any material item there is. You'd have to practically kill someone to rob something like stud earrings unless the person hands it over willingly. But in the end, I didn't have to steal them. I earned them by my own merits, but we won't have that luxury this time. There's no time for it."

"What will you do then?" Sakura asked.

Tsubame smiled, looking at Sakura with an impish twinkle in her eyes. "It's what you will do Sakura."

Sakura blinked, at a loss for words. What in the world could she do to get a token like that? She didn't even know Marie. So she looked at Tsubame, the woman obviously trying not to show her Cheshire grin at whatever her idea was. That grin usually wasn't a good thing. It meant something reckless and potentially dangerous was about to fly out the woman's mouth.

"What will I do?" Sakura asked.

"Remember what I told you about the Geisha? About them building their careers based on men's desire of getting as close to sex as they can without receiving it?" Tsubame asked.

Sakura nodded slowly a sinking feeling settling in her stomach.

"Well that idea works for the masses, but sometimes you need a little more when it comes to powerful people and getting what you want."

"Tsubame…" Sakura said, already knowing where the woman was going.

"Marie has a grandson, the son of her disowned daughter, her direct heir…"

Tsubame didn't even need to finish. Sakura had already figured out the woman's plan and she wanted nothing to do with it.

"I'm not seducing him if that's what you're getting at."

Tsubame giggled as though her request was so much more casual than it really was while saying, "But it's all too simple. Tease him a little, tantalize him, make him want you, but don't deliver the goods, carefully of course. Seduction can be a dangerous game and when he's desperate, he'll mistake your searching for sexual curiosity. In the throes of passion and pleasure, you, my friend, will be able to steal the real crest token. He won't even notice it's missing after the fact, not until it's too late. It's that simple," Tsubame explained.

"Then why can't you do it?"

"Because Marie will tell him to be suspicious of me, but by the time she exchanges a few words with you, she'll want to try to turn my game against me. It's just in her nature to try."

"But won't she be suspicious of me."

"Not by the time I convince her you're just a pretty little girl with power she doesn't know what to do with. You're young and, despite the fact that you're not a virgin, innocent. You'll have Marie and her grandson wrapped around your finger within the course of a day."

Sakura hesitated. Tsubame made it seem so simple, made it seem like it was something so casual and that there was absolutely nothing wrong with using her body to get what she wanted. It just went to show again how different they were, even when it sometimes seemed like they were more alike than either liked to admit.

"But Tsubame. You know Naoki and I…"

"I'm very aware. On the other hand, there's a lot of things about Naoki that you still don't know. Don't worry about him. What he doesn't know won't hurt him and if he does figure it out, I'll deal with Naoki if he decides he wants to be jealous. But in order for this to work, I need Marie on my side."

Sakura had nothing to say to that, Tsubame's cutting words effectively putting down any argument she might have had.

"Now listen closely. Don't mistake my casualty about the subject as being incautious. Seduction is a dangerous game of cat and mouse and you know what happens to a mouse when a cat gets tired of playing with it. I understand your apprehension. There are other ways to pull this off, but they may be more risky in the end," Tsubame added.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I could just steal it from Marie after she gives me the fake broach since the intention is already there and save you the trouble. But then that leaves room for her to try to blackmail me with something."

"But you stole that bracelet didn't you?" Sakura asked looking at the green and gold bracelet with the Li crest on it.

Tsubame shook her head. "I brought this from home. Besides, trust and loyalty are fickle concepts Sakura. Sure I've done questionable things, but to steal is like lying and nothing breaks trust and loyalty like a lie can. Sure it would be something little, but just that one thing could turn the world against me. However, no man ever wants to fess up that they fell to some woman's charms, that they didn't have the self-discipline to resist temptation. So even if someone found out that I got it, most of the time men have too much pride to admit when they've been tricked by a woman, and it would be too risky for anyone to accuse me of thievery because then I'd tell the real truth. I'd win either way it went."

Sakura began fidgeting with her fingers and biting her lip as she contemplated Tsubame's plan.

"I don't know…"

"Just stop it," Tsubame huffed impatiently. "You may fool everyone else and you might even fool yourself, but you don't fool me. You can't tell me you're so innocent that you can't do this and you also can't tell me that you're so innocent that you're not getting even an inkling of a thrill of excitement at the opportunity of this."

Sakura flushed at the accusation, not because she was embarrassed, but more so because Tsubame had a point.

"Despite our differences, you're still a version of me, and I know how I was at your age. I expect at least that much hasn't changed. Sure the sex isn't appealing to you, but I know the prospect of playing someone to your advantage and winning them over, that amuses you," Tsubame pointed out.

"That's cruel."

"The pot shouldn't call the kettle black dear. Besides, it's only cruel if you don't eventually fess up to the game. Think of it this way darling. You do it on a little scale every day. Well now, it's time for you to grow up. Turn that cute little innocent charm into something coy and attractive so you can get something out of it. And when I say something, I'm talking world domination not a few thousand yen," Tsubame said bluntly and upon seeing how her other self was scowling she rolled her eyes. "Be glad I told you before we left. I had half the mind of dropping this on you twenty-hours before I needed it done."

"Twenty-four hours!"

Tsubame shrugged. "Cleopatra managed it with Julius Cesar overnight. Alas, you'll probably have little more than about thirty-six hours."

"That's only a day!"

"Day and a half," Tsubame corrected casually.

Sakura made a mental note to ask Naoki if Tsubame had always been this spontaneous. She blushed at the thought. She wasn't going to be able to look him in the eye when she told him about this, if she told him.

"Cheer up dear and let's get ready. Takita's been watching us like a hawk so I think we'll use the cover of night with the help of the cards to help us get there hm? We'll be long gone by the time Takita figures out what we've done."

* * *

Kero had to admit he was just a little surprised when Takita showed up at their suite, looking thoroughly frustrated and outdone announcing that Tsubame was gone and she had no idea where the woman had gone, at least not yet. She was tracking the woman as they spoke. However, Kero was a lot surprised by Yue's lack of surprise or rather concern at Takita's arrival and announcement. Despite Yue's aloof nature, he was by nature a rather curious being. So despite Takita's impromptu arrival and declaration that she was going after Tsubame and needed their help (in not as many words because despite her wisdom, Takita was a very prideful person), he seemed to almost disregard her presence, just almost.

Unfortunately, almost too coincidently, her jet needed to be repaired because of a malfunction with the engine and wouldn't be ready until that evening. Until then, Takita was working on figuring out where Tsubame had gone to. Kero on the other hand had a feeling Yue already knew.

"You could help her you know. Use that connection you have with Tsubame to track her down and just tell her where she went," he pointed out.

Yue scoffed a little. "Tsubame only shows me what she wants me to know. I hardly think she would want me to know where she's sauntered off to if it has anything to do with keeping this war going."

It was a safe answer. If Yue knew anything, he wasn't going to give Kero anything that might give it away. Then again, why would he know something and not tell? It just didn't make any sense. Still he had the feeling, that same feeling he got when he sensed Sakura wasn't being completely honest with him. Sure sometimes he could be a little immature, but couldn't everyone? Besides, he probably knew Yue and Sakura both better than anyone and the same was probably true for the two them. Things just happened that way when three people shared a living space… Which was why he just couldn't let go the feeling that Yue was hiding something.

Kero sighed. He would just have to outright ask. Yue didn't like mind games and was more likely to give an honest answer when asked an honest straightforward question.

"You know where Tsubame is isn't she. In fact I bet she's counting on us following her," Kero added. "This is a trap, isn't it?"

"Knowing Tsubame, yes."

"But you do know Tsubame," Kero pointed out.

Yue rolled his eyes. "Don't start to remind me."

"Then why are you so tightlipped."

It was a hardly perceptible move and if Kero hadn't been watching so closely he would have missed it. But Yue's eyes flickered behind Kero, like he was looking at someone. And in that brief quick moment, Kero got the sense that the Yue had exchanged something with that someone, an agreement of sorts. Finally Yue sighed.

"You're not going to believe me and if you do, you'll think I'm crazy," he said.

"I don't know. A lot of unbelievable things have happened lately. Namely the fact that an alternate version of Sakura is trying to taking over the world and has more or less brainwashed her into helping her do it. It can't be crazier than that."

Yue gave Kero a deadpan look. "Even if I told you we have to let Tsubame win."

Kero stood corrected. That was indeed as crazy as it was unbelievable.

"You've got to be kidding. Have you gone-" Before could possibly throw a fit and alert everyone, Yue grabbed him and took him to an unoccupied room before closing the door behind them.

"Calm down. You're too loud."

"How can I calm down when you just told me we have to let that crazy witch have her way?"

"You're just going to have to trust me on that one."

Kero started to reply, but then realized it wasn't Yue who spoke that time. Instead it was someone else, a spirit, her white cloak obscuring the dress underneath it and pale hair falling gently to pool around her waist.

"Don't blame Yue for this. I was the one who told him that it would probably be best that this run its natural course. Despite Tsubame's apparent ruthlessness, she really is a benevolent queen and better to have her bring some order and control to this world before the real threat arrives."

"And what's that?" Kero asked, not bothering to ask who the spirit was. It could be anything.

She sighed, looking out the window as she said, "My sister isn't going to like that I'm doing this, but she can't seem to understand that we too are in peril."

"Your sister?"

The spirit didn't answer and only said, "Chaos is coming."

Kero wasn't exactly sure what Chaos was, but the fact that even his name seemed to unnerve the spirit said something. Spirits weren't afraid of much of anything.

"Who's that?"

"What's that?" the spirit corrected before continuing, "Ironically, Chaos is the force that helps to maintain the natural order of the universes. Chaos keeps all the different time flows and parallel universes separate and from crossing to create paradoxes for time must always run in a straight line. Only a few people have the power to cross Chaos and travel the various flows of time and space freely and those who can have to pay a price. Chaos is coming for Tsubame. Tsubame somehow managed to get around it without paying a price,and Chaos is coming to collect it from her. Unfortunately, Tsubame won't make it easy, and it would be for the best if the world weren't at war when Chaos arrives because it is Chaos' nature to destroy things that aren't in order or disrupt the balance. The Earth might stand a chance that way."

Well now it explained why the spirit was so concerned to begin with. A shift like the earth being destroyed was a dangerous tilt in the balance of what was spiritual and what was physical. Both worlds needed the other to exist.

"Might?" Yue asked. "Does Tsubame know what she's doing, what she's done?"

"Probably not. My sister and I exist in all the universes and have knowledge of all versions of your mistress and Tsubame and if there's one trait they all share despite their astronomical differences it is the incredible knack of getting into things and doing things without knowing the entire consequences. This is the first time she's crossed the time streams. So I doubt it… Then again, you never know."

"This still doesn't help," Kero said. "What are we supposed to do until then?"

"Exactly what you've been doing. Keep playing Tsubame's game the best you can and pray no one gets hurt."

* * *

**AN:** I hate school. I really do. I'm a lot busier this semester, doing interviews, working for the student paper and yada, yada, yada. But I really want to finish this story and I'm going to. So not much to really say except I'll update again next Sunday night. I promise and I don't take my word lightly.

Hope you enjoyed! And **Review Please** if you enjoyed the chapter or even if you didn't, for ff. net has made it so easy to simply put your arrow right in that big box that follows and type a quick review. I do appreciate the comments.


	28. Marie

**Chapter Twenty-eight  
Marie**

"Haven't seen this place in a while," Naoki said as they approached the manor.

"This is Marie's home." Sakura asked. She had been surprised when Tsubame simply waltzed onto the manor grounds. Sure Tsubame claimed to be friends, or at the very least allies, with Marie in her own world, but in this world, Marie probably didn't even know who she was.

"One of them." Tsubame said.

"Isn't just waltzing up onto her property without her knowing a bit rude?" Sakura asked, aware that the closer they got to the main part of the woman's manor, the closer she got to having to set about completing this task Tsubame had given her.

"Of course it is. Especially so late in the night… or rather early in the morning. But that's the point. Marie's attracted to those with power. She'll be more impressed that I got past whatever security she has set up to get into her own home than angry that I actually did it. However, although we eventually became friends back home, I can't say the same for everywhere else. Any encounters with her that I might need to know about before I introduce you to her?" Tsubame asked.

Sakura shook her head. "This is probably the most contact with the magical world I've ever had. I didn't even know who she was until you told me earlier."

"But no doubt she's heard of you. Good," Tsubame said. "That'll make this a lot easier. I wish I had brushed up on my German…"

For not the first time, Sakura wondered if Tsubame was really a version of her. Sakura could barely speak a little English, but Tsubame was at least fluent in Japanese, Chinese, English, and now Sakura could add German to the list.

As though reading her mind, Tsubame smiled and said, "These are things you pick up in three hundred years. Don't worry. Before I could pick any of it up, Naoki and Leo were my translators most of the time."

As she said this, Tsubame had waltzed up to the front door of the main house, but instead of waiting, she held up a hand up in front of the lock of the door. There was an audible click and then the door opened. Tsubame went in without preamble and plopped herself perfectly comfortable in the bench that was in the foyer.

"Sit here Sakura. Marie won't be long."

And she wasn't. In fact, before Sakura could even decide if she wanted to sit down or not, the said woman came down the steps of her elaborate marble staircase that was a little farther back of the foyer. Her hair was black and wavy, contrasting vividly against her porcelain white skin and making her blue eyes stand out. She seemed to favor bold reds and oranges if the color of her dress was any implication

Marie was quiet, in that way that reminded Sakura of the way Tsubame was quiet when she was waiting expectantly for someone to talk or explain themselves. But there was something different in Marie's expression. Marie looked cautious and with good reason. Tsubame never looked cautious, only knowing, her smile never leaving her expression. Tsubame was matching the woman's stare with that same knowing look and smile, waiting for Marie to speak as much as Marie was waiting on Tsubame, almost like a battle of wills. Tsubame won for finally Marie frowned and said something in a language Sakura didn't understand, German she guessed.

Tsubame giggled, returning the question with a response of her own. Marie than glanced at Sakura, so brief, Sakura almost didn't notice. Then the woman looked back at Tsubame. Tsubame's smile grew a little wider and she responded very simply, only a few words Sakura guessed considering she didn't know German, but whatever it was surprised and intrigued Marie a little if the way Marie's eyes widened, darted to Sakura, and then back to Tsubame was any indication. Marie said something else and came the rest of the way downstairs.

Tsubame stood, and Sakura stood next to her wishing she understood what was going on. Tsubame asked something or so Sakura guessed judging by the look of wonder that crossed her features.

Marie nodded and turned her head to look in the direction of an archway. A girl, about ten, with blonde hair and blue eyes, peeked her head around the corner. Marie nodded her head in Sakura's direction giving an instruction and the girl nodded making her way over, practically skipping. She grabbed Sakura's hand and tugged on it.

"Go with Jasmine, Sakura," Tsubame said and then laughed. "And don't let her looks fool you. She's much older than she looks."

"Alright," Sakura said a little uncomfortable.

"Naoki, go make sure Marie's grandchildren play nicely. Leo will come with me."

Sakura glanced back at Tsubame once as the girl, Jasmine, pulled her away rambling off in German about something. They were halfway down the hall when Sakura stopped Jasmine by tugging on her hand and shaking her head trying to figure out how to get it across.

"I can't…"

Jasmine looked at her questioningly and then looked at Naoki.

Naoki smiled saying something in German that made Jasmine giggle and slap her forehead.

"Well why didn't you say you couldn't speak German silly?" she said.

Sakura blinked in surprise glancing at Naoki who only said, "All you had to do was say so."

"But Tsubame…" Sakura said.

"It's a rule of etiquette I guess you could say, when going into someone else's territory you adapt to their customs, language included. I'll explain it all later," Naoki replied.

"Oh. You're new to all this aren't you?"

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to be rude."

Jasmine shrugged. "Don't worry. You're excused. I heard Tsubame say you were her apprentice but my, I didn't know you were so young. Come on, I'll show you around. Anamarie is still asleep, but Dominik might be awake already."

Sakura blushed, starting to contradict her, but Naoki shook his head and before Sakura could ask why, Jasmine was pulling her down the hall again.

* * *

"You amuse me Tsubame," Marie said looking at Tsubame over the rim of her wine glass.

"Curious," Tsubame said. "I don't recall saying anything funny."

"I wasn't born yesterday," the woman began.

"Yes I know. We're about the same age," Tsubame replied.

"Yet we've never met before."

Tsubame smiled taking a sip of her own wine before saying, "I like to stay under the radar. I suppose it's for the exact same reasons you like to make your presence known."

Marie looked at her, a look Tsubame was already well acquainted with. Marie was an ambitious woman and in all honesty, not much had changed about her after crossing dimensions. They had an unlikely friendship. Marie was selfish and all about herself and the prosperity of her family. She probably would have turned on her own mother if it meant saving her power, reputation, and name. Tsubame, when they had first met when she was still a teenager, understood the sentiment, but had a fierce loyalty to those she cared for while Marie's loyalty changed depending on who the wind was blowing in favor of. Most people disliked her for it, but Tsubame understood the key to getting along with Marie was accepting that and therefore staying one step ahead of the woman—that and appealing to her ambitions.

"What's that mean?" Marie finally asked.

"We're a lot alike Marie. The matriarchs of two powerful families, but alas, the powers that be don't want to acknowledge that, just because we're what they might call new magic."

Tsubame let it digest for a while, knowing that it would appeal to the woman. It was another reason they got along so well. They had both forged their way in the magical community when everyone else had disregarded them or in Tsubame's case, tried to control them.

"Wouldn't it be something if we could force them to eventually bow to us?"

Marie laughed. "I don't know where you've been, but they already bow to me."

Tsubame rolled her eyes. "They leave you alone because you're more trouble than you're worth dealing with. If you were a real threat, you'd never get them to leave you alone. Bullies my friend, are just as pathetic as the people they pick on, but you're more than that. We both are. That's why I have a little proposition for you."

Marie's mouth twitched, but she didn't say anything. Tsubame was glad. Talking to Marie had always been a delicate game of degradation and flattery.

"We can use this war to our advantage."

Marie scoffed. "You and every other sorcerer…"

"I'm not every other sorcerer. I started the war."

Tsubame tried not to laugh at the way Marie was trying to keep her jaw from going slack.

"You? Why?"

"Marie, Marie, what do you think I've been talking about the whole time? The weather? It's for world domination of course, the permanent kind. The kind where we become immortal," Tsubame said. "All you have to do is assure me of your loyalty. We'll discuss how when you have time to think my proposition over, and you do exactly as I say in regards to handling this war which is don't get involved."

"Not get involved in the war where everything is at stake?"

Tsubame shrugged. "You don't have to listen to me. You can do what you want. At the end of the day, I'll get what I want. I just thought you might want a piece of it."

Marie huffed. "What's the catch? There must be some other reason you want me involved because I doubt it's out the kindness of your heart."

"It's not," Tsubame said honestly. "A girl's got to have a back-up plan, you know that. This whole war thing could backfire and at the end of the day, I may have to lift up the skirts of my pretty little kimono and go to battle. An undead army would certainly help with that if you catch my drift."

It was easier not to withhold her intentions from Marie. It was an odd thing really. The woman appreciated cunning and smarts when she saw it outright rather than when it was hidden.

"And the girl, the card mistress. How does she factor into all of this?"

Tsubame shrugged. "I still see you need some time to mull over it. Why don't you let her convince you during our stay?"

* * *

"Wow! Is it really that big?"

"Yes," Sakura said as she described Tokyo tower to Jasmine.

"Wow! I wish I could go. I've never been to Japan before!"

"Well, then maybe when I go back, you can come with me," Sakura suggested.

Jasmine's cousin, Anamarie, rolled her eyes.

"It looks just like the Eiffel Tower. You've seen that before."

"But the Eiffel Tower is in Paris. I've never been to Tokyo before!" Jasmine said giggling and then turned back to Sakura. "Have you been to it before?"

"To it, in it, on top of it, you name it," Sakura said dryly.

"On top of it?" Anamarie asked, the first time she had said anything directly to Sakura.

Sakura blushed. "To find my guardian, Yue. That's one of his favorite places to be. Most of the time I just go and keep him company since he likes silence and that's one of the only times he gets it."

"Guardian… Where is he?"

Sakura sighed, playing with a blade of grass as she said, "It's a little complicated right now. It's for the best neither of them are with me."

All this talk of her guardians was starting to make her a little homesick. She hadn't been away from home for so long. A weeklong trip had turned into something well over a month and not only that, but it had turned into an endeavor she hadn't expected to get involved in.

"Sakura."

Sakura looked up from where she had been playing with a blade of grass to Naoki who was looking at her in concern.

"Yes."

"Are you alright? You look a little spacey there."

Sakura smiled. "Yes. Just a little tired considering Tsubame's impromptu trip didn't allow for much sleep."

"It was, wasn't it?" Tsubame said coming out to join them with Marie standing next to her. But surely you can keep your eyes open a little longer to speak with Marie, ne Sakura-hime?"

"I'm no princess," Sakura said standing up.

Tsubame shrugged turning to Jasmine and Anamarie. "Who's going to show us to our room while Marie and Sakura talk, hm?"

Jasmine and Anamarie looked at their grandmother, who said something to them in their native language. The two nodded and Jasmine, in much the same fashion as she had done Sakura, grabbed Tsubame's hand and started to pull her along. But Tsubame didn't move yet. She turned to Naoki, one of her hands resting on Leo's head.

"Coming love?" she asked and then allowed Jasmine to continue pulling her along. Naoki exchanged a glance with Sakura and then followed the woman, leaving Sakura and Marie alone.

Marie was intriguing to say the least. Sakura was very aware that though she didn't look like it, the woman was watching her, trying to figure her out, get a sense of what it was that Tsubame wanted with her so much. And it wasn't so much that Marie was actually showing it. Sakura could just sense it…

"I have to say, if we had met under any other circumstances, I'd be trying to figure out a way to use you to get what I wanted," the woman said to her.

Sakura raised her eyebrows at this and seeming to notice, Marie laughed.

"Don't worry. It would be more to my benefit and probably easier to go along with Tsubame's plan, whatever that may be."

"Oh," Sakura said. "So that's what you discussed."

"More like it was suggested. Tsubame didn't give me any details. Care to share?"

Sakura looked at her, wishing Tsubame hadn't left her alone with Marie without any direction on how to handle the woman. What exactly was she allowed to tell the woman? Well, Sakura thought, when all else failed, being coy seemed to work for Tsubame. So she shrugged and said, "Besides world domination?"

"Touche," Marie said. "But what if you had to guess then."

It might have something to do with seducing her grandson, Sakura thought to herself, but of course she couldn't tell Marie that. Though to be honest, if she had to guess, Sakura would say that Tsubame was stalling for time for something, waiting for the war to get worse without her active hand. But like Tsubame had said. Time was a luxury she didn't have. Sakura wasn't going to tell Marie all this though.

"If I had to guess, I would say that you were trying to get some inkling or idea of what Tsubame's got going through her head because surely I'd know the way she thinks by this point," Sakura said dryly.

"Would it be a crime?"

"No. Because it wouldn't work," Sakura said absently as she picked the petals off a flower she had picked off a random bush. "I really don't know what Tsubame wants out of all this."

"You and I will most definitely get along," Marie said.

"So long as you're not trying to take advantage of me for your own gain," Sakura added.

"Tsubame warned you?"

"Naoki did."

Marie regarded her with what might have been annoyance at first, but then she laughed.

"My reputation precedes me. So does yours," Marie said.

Sakura blinked. "I have a reputation."

"I have to admit, your name is the topic of the magical rumor mill often enough. You should have heard the commotion when everyone found out a little girl had inherited the Clow Cards. And the council was all worried about some vicious takeover on your part. Ridiculous if you ask me, especially now that I've met you," Marie replied.

Sakura wasn't sure if she was supposed to take that as an insult or a compliment. She'd take it as a compliment though. It appeared that the woman was only being honest anyway. Nothing more and nothing less.

"Why do you say that? Never know," Sakura said with a grin.

Marie smirked. "Child, I don't think you could purposely hurt fly, at least not right now anyway."

Again, Sakura wasn't sure if the woman was insulting her. If it was just a form of blunt honesty, it wouldn't take much getting used to. Yue was like that…

Sakura shrugged. "Well you never know. I can be full of surprises."

Marie laughed and tilted her head. "So I'm beginning to see."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

* * *

**AN:** Spring break! Yay!

Anywho, I have a really good reason for not updating this two weeks ago and that was because I got sick out of nowhere. Then I came to find out someone had given me the chicken pox. Then I went out of town and the hotel I was at had no internet, at least not free anyway. The next week I got back and because I was behind on school work I had to put everything else aside and got stuck writing three essays in one night and I still have no clue how I did it. So now that I have a week off, I figure I'll catch up on some writing, catch up on some updates and see what happens.

Also, shout out to Moon Calf. She's not dead! It's been a while. But I imagine if I'm struggling through my studies, so is she especially considering her subject of study.

Other than that, I have not much to say about this. Except that I'm struggling through writing the end right now, only because I don't have a lot of time on my hands. I know exactly what I'm writing though. But this is nowhere near the end. This is probably halfway. So I've got plenty until then.

Hope you enjoyed! And **Review Please** if you enjoyed the chapter or even if you didn't, for ff. net has made it so easy to simply put your arrow right in that big box that follows and type a quick review. I do appreciate the comments.


	29. Scars of the Past

**Chapter Twenty-nine  
Scars of the Past**

"She's not what I expected," Marie said.

"I figured."

"She's appears naïve."

"Quite right."

"Honest,"

"Touche."

"And she couldn't hurt a fly."

"So it would seem."

"And she lacks your ambition."

"True. She hardly cares."

"But that's the point, isn't it?" Marie asked.

"Precisely," Tsubame said. "You catch on pretty fast."

"It was pretty obvious," Marie said. "They won't trust you, but she's exactly the type the council thinks they can control and manipulate, but what they don't know is that girl has an inner fire that's hard to keep in control and when you underestimate a fire, it burns…"

"I knew there was a reason I came to you. Now do you see what I need you for?" Tsubame asked.

"Because this entire plan could blow up in your face and you might end up taking your throne by force?" Marie asked.

"Not so much the throne as I will take the world," Tsubame admitted.

Marie raised an eyebrow.

"Sure half the work is getting the throne in the first place, but I'm no fool as to think the world will bow because of it. I'll still be in for the fight of my life and that's where you come in. Undead armies can come in handy. All I'm asking for is your loyalty and I don't just mean your word. I need something a little more concrete…" Tsubame replied.

"Only if you're willing to do the same."

Tsubame laughed a little. "Don't be silly Marie. I need your help. Not the other way around. Why would I betray you? What could I really do against your undead army if you unleashed it on me?"

Tsubame looked at Marie out the corner of her eyes. For someone as smart as Marie, she was the easiest to deal with simply because of her suspicion and intuition. By being completely honest, Marie would undoubtedly rack her brain trying to figure out what else Tsubame was hiding and she would do it indirectly, in a way that would only help Tsubame more to get what she wanted.

"But if you must," Tsubame replied as she reached into her robes and pulled out a fan, not her iron ones, but a decorative red and gold one with her crest on the handle. Marie began to take it, but Tsubame held it back. "What about you?"

Marie sighed, reaching onto her dress and removing a silver broach, a pin with an ankh and a cross crisscrossed on each other.

"There is an easier way to do this," Marie said. "A marriage of the families would work just as equally."

"Don't get it wrong Marie," Tsubame warned. "This isn't a sharing or uniting of power so that we become one family who rules. You're helping me and in return, I'll help you in your endeavor for immortality. Nothing more and nothing less. This is the only way."

With that, the two exchanged trinkets, a symbol of loyalty to one another.

"Now what?"

"We wait," Tsubame replied. "I hope you don't mind if I wait out this war as it gets worse here for a while, hm?"

Marie scoffed as she inspected the fan. "As if you're giving me a choice?"

With that the woman left the room, and as she did so, Tsubame inspected the silver broach. Frowning, she set in on her nightstand and said. "Now the real game begins."

* * *

Sakura peeked into Tsubame's room to see the woman sitting on a mat on the floor playing with something, a broach it looked like. She went to sit next to the woman, wondering where Leo had gone since he had been right behind her a moment ago after telling her Tsubame wanted to see her. Tsubame didn't say anything at first, but Sakura figured she'd talk in her own due time. The woman was obviously thinking about something as she fiddled with the broach in between her fingers.

"What do you think of Marie?" she suddenly asked.

Sakura shrugged. "She's nice enough I guess. Very forward."

Tsubame laughed. "Hard to believe she's a close friend of mine in my universe isn't it?"

Sakura nodded. Marie didn't seem like the type Tsubame would acquaint herself with, especially considering how cunning the woman appeared to be.

"We're an unlikely pair, that's for sure. Do you know she was the one who gave me my name?"

Sakura looked up, intrigued by this new piece of Tsubame's history.

"She did?"

"Indirectly. It was her obsession with immortality that gave me the idea. Marie really should just move on from that idea. No one is immortal. Everyone has to die whether their calling is after one year or ten thousand. No amount of magic will keep this body running forever… and who wants to live forever. It would get boring after a while," Tsubame said sighing. "Everyone will die, but ideas can live forever. So while I'll definitely die one day, the mask of Tsubame will live forever. Hence the Immortal Queen Tsubame…"

"Who gave you Tsubame?" Sakura asked.

Tsubame looked at her and then laughed. "Nothing special. No great stroke of magical inspiration I'm afraid. No, that was a pseudo-name. I created the guise of Tsubame when I was fourteen to make money. It's that simple."

Sakura let Tsubame reminisce for a moment, a dazed look appearing in the woman's eyes before she shook her head.

"Alas, I'm not here to make friends with this Marie though you probably will. No, I need to ensure her loyalty. Have you worked up your nerves yet?" Tsubame asked.

Sakura shook her head honestly and expected Tsubame to react with something of exasperation, but she didn't.

"Of course you haven't. It takes a while. If you weren't nervous, I would think something was wrong. Just remember, it's not about being forward. Seduction is about casual lingering glances, coyness, and quiet moments, the little things," Tsubame said going to what Sakura was beginning to suspect was a magical trunk that somehow always ended up wherever Tsubame was.

"Speaking of little things, nothing gets you in the mood like the right outfit," Tsubame said taking a dress off the top. "There's nothing like using summer as an excuse to… show off a little."

Tsubame showed Sakura the halter dress. The pastel pinks, yellows, and oranges reminded her of the sunset, but Sakura had a feeling the neckline was a little lower than she was comfortable with.

"Like it?" Tsubame asked. "It used to be one of my favorites. Of course I haven't worn it in years. It doesn't suit me anymore but you… I think this is perfect. Well don't just stand there. Let's put it on."

Sakura sighed. Sometimes Tsubame's zeal reminded her of Tomoyo. She took the dress, spreading it out on the bed before peeling off her kimono. Then she took the dress and put it on, finding to her dismay that not only did the neck dip much lower than she was comfortable with, but her entire back was out.

"Tsubame, I can't wear this!"

Tsubame giggled. "Of course you can."

"But it's… It's so delicate," Sakura said running her hands over the layers of fabric.

"I know. Whether you come back with a tear in that dress or not will tell most of the story," Tsubame said and Sakura blushed.

"I can't wear this. I don't even know if I can pull this off," Sakura said starting to try to take off the dress, but Tsubame stopped her.

"Of course you can pull it off and even if you can't, the dress does half the work for you and with your charm and innocence, he won't be able to keep his eyes off you."

"Who won't?"

Sakura whirled around to find Naoki just coming into the room. She blushed for an entirely different reason now, not because she was embarrassed about the dress anymore, but because of exactly who she was trying to get to look her way with the dress, someone who wasn't her lover.

"Perfect," Tsubame said playing off the comment well. "Just the person to ask. What do you think Naoki?"

Naoki looked at Sakura, cautiously, almost warily in fact, as though he knew something was going on. He probably did, Sakura thought to herself. He had always been rather observant of her, uncannily so in fact that it used to bother her when they first met. Sometimes she wondered though if that had more to do with the fact that he knew Tsubame so well and knew Sakura because of it. Regardless, he had been bound to pick up on how she had carefully avoided being alone with him for the past few hours because if she ended up alone with him, there was no hiding what Tsubame had asked of her and then he would distract her, give a very pleasurable reminder of who she belonged to. She blushed again, this time because of the lewd direction her thoughts were headed.

"It's nice," Naoki finally replied. "What's the occasion?"

"It's summer and it's hot. What other occasion does she need?"

If Naoki wasn't clued in yet, he surely was now and so he raised an eyebrow at Tsubame and said, "Can I talk to you for a moment Tsubame?"

Tsubame sighed. "Don't you see I'm with Sakura right now?"

Naoki gave her an exasperated look to which Tsubame rolled her eyes and said, "Fine. Sakura, why don't you go find something to do. Rumor has it Marie has a very vast antique collection near the library. Why don't you see if you can find it?"

It was as good a clue as Sakura was going to get from Tsubame on how to approach this endeavor and so with one more sideways glance at Naoki whose gaze was firmly fixated on Tsubame, she left the room, deciding to take the woman's advice and go find the library or the antique collection. Her first thought was that maybe she'd find Jasmine or even the less sociable Anamarie to help her find the room. The problem was Sakura wasn't even sure how to find them.

"I should have asked Tsubame for directions," Sakura muttered to herself after peeking into an open room and resigning herself to just get lost in the house and hope she found the right room or someplace to entertain herself.

"Wouldn't it be even better to ask someone who lives in the house?"

Sakura frowned, peeking back in the empty room or at least, the room she though had been empty. She hadn't looked that far into the room it appeared, for on the other side of the door was Dominik, whom she had met briefly earlier that day when they first arrived. Scratch that. Sakura hadn't really met him at all. It was more like she had seen the back of him as he left from talking to Anamarie when Jasmine brought her to introduce him.

"Sorry," Sakura said as she started to leave the room.

"It's fine," Dominik said not sounding annoyed, but not very welcoming either. "Who are you looking for?"

Sakura stepped all the way into the room so that she could see him and he could see her, though more than anything she wanted to be as far away from him as possible despite the task Tsubame had given her. Knowing she had agreed to it or rather, she had agreed to give it a shot, was one thing, but being in the man's physical presence was another. And despite herself, she couldn't help but inspect him she guessed for lack of a better word. He looked like his grandmother and Anamarie, having the same dark hair that contrasted so vividly with his pale skin, yet it wasn't nearly as pale as the two aforementioned family members. He was taller than her too, but then again, everyone was taller than Sakura. Realizing he was probably waiting for an answer and that he had probably noticed her staring, Sakura blushed and finally gave him a response.

"I'm not looking for anyone. I'm just bored I guess. Tsubame said Marie has a library and a lot of antiques," she said softly, suddenly very self-aware of herself. This was going to be hard.

"It's not on this floor," Dominik replied. "It would be downstairs since it's a public area. You remember how to get to the staircase?"

Sakura nodded.

"When you get back down to the foyer, go left, through the archway that leads into the hall and just keeping going. It's two big mahogany doors. You can't miss it. If you end up outside in the gardens, you went the wrong way."

Sakura nodded, starting to leave the room, but then paused.

"Something else?" Dominik asked her, looking at her with his grandmother's piercing blue eyes.

"Could you maybe just show me where it is? It would be a lot easier than me just getting lost," she said with a sheepish grin.

He looked at her, really looked at her. The look reminded Sakura of the one Marie gave Tsubame, but Dominik's stare was much less calculating than his grandmother's. Well, Sakura thought abysmally, at least she didn't have to do much work to gain his attention. Maybe Tsubame was right.

He looked like maybe he didn't want to, but he got up anyway and gestured for her to follow him. Well that had been easier than she thought it would be. Now for the rest of the day…

* * *

This wouldn't be the first time Tsubame found herself fixed in Naoki's stare like this. It meant all joking, wit, teasing, and being smart mouthed would be put aside for he meant business. One of the first times he had given her _that_ look was sometime after they first met, shortly after capturing her first card, the FIERY. They hadn't gotten along so well back then. She was a feisty orphan teenager with a bad temper, and he was the moody, obnoxious guardian who seemed more annoyed than anything that he was stuck babysitting her until she captured all the cards again. Finally fed up with her after some reckless stunt or another (the first of many he would be angry at her about), he asked her absently if she had to go to school the next morning, probably hoping to get rid of her or so she had thought. When she said no and muttered something about working, he gave her _that_ look and found herself resentfully sitting back in school the next day, where she found out Tomoyo had actually filmed her capturing FIERY. She only remembered it because it was the first instance that she remembered of someone actually caring for her wellbeing in a while.

Another time that stuck out in her mind was her first pregnancy, when things had started getting complicated and, though she didn't know it, she was on her way to becoming queen. She hadn't told anyone and hadn't planned to anytime soon. She _couldn't_ tell anyone yet, not until she had a plan. Affairs were one thing. It wasn't okay, but not too scorned. A child of adultery, however, was nothing to be taken light of in the magical world she lived in. And there had never been any doubt in Tsubame's mind at the time of the fact that she wasn't carrying the child of her husband, but the child of her lover, even though it was years before she could safely admit that fact. Regardless, Naoki had given her that same look and asked her very straightforwardly what she was hiding. It was hard not to tell him she pregnant under that kind of stare and eventually she caved and admitted to it.

Now wasn't much different, except this was the first time that Tsubame knew of that he had fixed her with that stare because she was using, for lack of a better word, one of his lovers. It was usually something she had done that was a threat to her wellbeing. Yeah. The stare wasn't new. The circumstance was the new part.

"What did you do?"

He was hardly ever this straightforward with her anymore, preferring nowadays to slowly pry it out of her, see if he could figure it out and call her on it. He really did mean business, Tsubame thought. But that didn't mean she had to acknowledge it.

"I've done a lot of things love. You'll have to be more specific."

He wasn't rolling his eyes at her in exasperation at her antics, nor did he look too annoyed with her that she thought he might just leave it alone.

"Specific," Naoki muttered and then added something under his breath about Tsubame that was less than flattering, not that it bothered the woman. He had called her worse in the last three centuries.

"Care to explain to me what you've put Sakura up to so that she can't seem to look me in the eye?" he asked.

"Oh dear," Tsubame said smiling. "Is there trouble in paradise?'

"If there was, I could blame it squarely on you, Tsubame."

The condescending look and tone was familiar too, but she hadn't seen it in a while, probably not since she was around twenty. As a result she felt like she was back there being thoroughly reprimanded for something stupid and dangerous she had done.

"I haven't put her up to anything," Tsubame finally replied. "I made a request and she had the option of backing out. Still does if she wants to. There are other ways to get what I want. Harder, but possible."

"And what do you want?" Naoki asked.

"Insurance," Tsubame said. "Marie knows power when she sees it, but she's also afraid of losing hold of it."

"And this has everything to do with Sakura how?"

"You're a smart man. Figure it out," Tsubame said playfully.

Naoki sighed, a sigh Tsubame mistook for exasperation with her and giving up, at least until Naoki literally manhandled her and locked her arms behind her back before pressing her against the wall. Tsubame sighed. He used to do this all the time when she was younger, as it was probably the only position from which she couldn't escape from. She still found rather difficult to get out of. But it could also be fun position.

"You know last time you had me locked in this kind of hold you ended up ravishing me against the wall. Care for a repeat?"

"Tsubame," he warned.

Tsubame sighed. "I see you're still not ready to let her go yet." Not that Tsubame wanted him to. It wouldn't do well for her plans yet. "Fine. If you must know, I only asked Sakura to befriend Marie's grandson."

His grip on her loosened just a little, knowing well enough what she meant by befriend. She herself had befriended quite a few people before.

"And what did she say?"

"She didn't say yes or no, but I figured I'd help her along the way. Her dress was pretty wasn't it? Leaves just enough to the imagination, don't you think?"

Tsubame was pushing it now. She could tell, for Naoki was rarely truly angry with her about something and not over a lover of all things, regardless of whether the lover was Tsubame's alternate self or not. His grip on her tightened again and though Tsubame wasn't concerned about whether he would hurt her or not, she was intrigued. Finally though, he let go of her, roughly shoving her to the side and turning to leave the room.

"Where are you going?" Tsubame asked.

"Where do you think?"

"I'm going to have to ask you not to interfere." Tsubame said simply. Any other person would take it as a request, but if it had been one, Tsubame would have just asked outright. To phrase it the way she had was her nice way of commanding him not to meddle. She could sense he was about to argue though and so continued. "I warned you before you ever got involved with her to remember where your loyalties lay. So don't act shocked."

"I'm not shocked. Nothing you do shocks me anymore," Naoki said his tone even for it was fact. "But she's not like you."

Tsubame laughed. "I think she is. To be honest, I think she reminds you more of me than you're willing to admit. In fact, I think she's your ideal image of me which is why this little affair of yours has lasted longer than most of your little escapades. What do you think?"

"Whether I agree with that or not is irrelevant considering that's not what I meant. Unlike you, she doesn't know the delicacies of this game you've got her playing."

He was craftily avoiding her observation because even if that hadn't been what he meant, Naoki still couldn't deny the double meaning to his words. But since she really didn't want him back quite yet, she wouldn't press it, wouldn't force him to admit it and then have him right back at her side again for the next few years before they separated yet again for one reason or another. Now wasn't the time for that.

"You can relax," Tsubame replied. "I warned her and besides, you act like I've thrown her into the lion's den. If I thought this would be remotely dangerous or that her precious innocence was at all at stake, I wouldn't have asked her. But of course, if you feel the need to protect her, if she's not back by tomorrow morning, feel free to be her knight in shining armor."

Naoki sighed, crossing his arms as he said, "You may like to pride yourself on being a skilled cougar now, but you weren't always. Don't you remember your first time doing something like this?"

Tsubame sighed. It was rare that Naoki brought up anything that happened within the first half century of her existence and even rarer still that he brought up that particular incident. For him to bring it up for the sake of protecting a lover, whether it was an alternate version of her or not was a little discomforting. Still…

"Of course I do. I still have the scar from where you hit me after you found out," she said laughing a little. "You were so angry with me."

Naoki huffed. "And I still have the scar from where you hit me back."

"There was a scar?" Tsubame asked curiously.

Naoki nodded.

Tsubame tried to imagine where that scar might be, recount exactly where she had hit him. It was across the chest, for she missed his faced when he move back, not to mention he was taller than her…

"Oh. That one right over where your heart is? I always wondered where that came from. I suppose it's not shocking. I was always a fighter."

"Yes," Naoki agreed. "You've always been the person who shook off trauma pretty easily, which is my point. Have you really forgotten how depressed you were for a while after that though?"

"I make it a point not to dwell on things in the past that can't be changed. So you'll have to remind me," Tsubame said knowing full well she was probably only serving to frustrate Naoki by her nonchalant attitude.

However, he was patient with her and instead went over to where she was, grabbing her arm and lifting the sleeve to show a patch of skin that was on slightly discolored compared to the rest of her skin.

"You locked yourself in the bathroom and ran the hottest bath you could and did this to yourself. Luckily, I caught you before you could do anymore damage, even though you screamed at me to get out and then, I took you in my arms just like this and held you," Naoki said as he pulled Tsubame into his embrace.

Tsubame was glad he couldn't see her face. He'd never let her live it down if he saw her blushing like she was.

"I remember now," Tsubame replied starting to understand what Naoki meant. But still, she was too stubborn to admit that he may be right. So as she pulled away from him, she pointedly looked away from him, fooling with a piece of jewelry from her vanity as she said, "But she's not like I was, foolishly gallivanting off to give away her virginity like I did. I think you claimed that prize."

"I think you're missing the point."

"No, I'm not," Tsubame admitted allowing the memory of that particular event to come forth. She couldn't completely remember the circumstance, but she knew it hadn't been rape. She had definitely consented, but she had for all intents and purposes sold it away (she couldn't remember for what) and despite her nonchalant nature about it, it had bothered her more than she liked to admit.

"I get it," she added and then said, "You'll probably have to find her afterward. She'll be avoiding you."

* * *

AN: Wow…. I really haven't updated this since spring break. Well, there are a lot of reason for that, one of which is school and the other being that I've been working on promoting my self-published work on Amazon kdp so I haven't had a lot of time to devote to this. But since I've kind of come up with a system to manage my time better, I've decide to finish this… At least that's what I say now.

Anywho, nothing much to say. I'm trying to practice not saying anything about the work and letting the readers decide for themselves. So…

Hope you enjoyed! And Review Please if you enjoyed the chapter or even if you didn't, for ff. net has made it so easy to simply put your arrow right in that big box that follows and type a quick review. I do appreciate the comments.


	30. The Art of Seduction

**Chapter Thirty  
The Art of Seduction  
**

Sakura wondered if it had occurred to Tsubame when she sent her to the library that most of Marie's collection would be in German and English. It probably had. In fact, Sakura was beginning to suspect Tsubame had sent her this way on purpose, quite possibly knowing she'd run into Dominik and ask him to show her the way. Either way, Sakura was beginning to see what Tsubame meant when she said use casual everyday occurrences to her advantage, while Sakura had no doubt that she had probably missed a few cues Tsubame would have taken advantage of, the important part was that she had managed to get Dominik to keep her company.

Sakura picked one of the geography books, with pictures of different attractions and monuments in Austria and Germany with Dominik as her translator when she found pictures with captions she couldn't read. And instead of sitting at one of the tables, she grabbed Dominik's hand and pulled him over to one of the lounge areas to sit next to her. She didn't know whether that was rude or not in their culture, but Jasmine had pointed out that she was lacking in knowledge of other cultures, and Sakura was quite sure the girl had passed it on.

"You're very interested in other countries I see. Geography must be your favorite subject."

Sakura shrugged. "Not really. But there are so many places in the world to see and I have to admit, I'm a little curious. I've been outside of Japan before, but never this long and never to Europe."

"Seems like Tsubame would have taken you."

"Tsubame's all work and no play. But then I suppose when you have ambitions as grand as she does, there is no time for playing," Sakura said mentally adding to herself that it may be part of the reason Tsubame seemed to entertain herself through her manipulations and schemes.

"Sounds like something my grandmother would say to be quite honest," Dominik said dryly.

Sakura looked at Dominik who was absently scanning the page Sakura was on in her book.

"And do you agree with her?"

"Somewhat."

Sakura pushed the book aside. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing really," Dominik said.

He was closing up on her and that wasn't what Sakura needed for him to do. Then she would have to start all over again, and Sakura wasn't sure how long she could fake this act.

"So you're one of those people who never had a childhood because of parents with too much ambition?" she teased.

Dominik laughed, and Sakura inwardly cheered for herself at the small victory. He hadn't laughed all day.

"No, but let's just say that's a philosophy that's gained her more enemies than allies," he replied.

"How's that?"

"Her philosophy on life carries over into her personal relationships. She doesn't believe in relationships just for the heck of it. It's all about what she can get out of it and if she ends up liking the person's company, it's a nice bonus. I can only imagine what Tsubame had to offer her that she let a woman she just met stay in the main house," Dominik muttered dryly. "Next thing you know she'll be trying to set me up to marry one of you. You more than likely since there's no telling how old Tsubame actually is."

And there it was, an opening Sakura was sure Tsubame would kill her for not taking, the perfect opportunity to plant the suggestion or the idea of something a little more intimate, a little less innocent. Sakura bit her lip a little, pretending to contemplate Dominik's words when actuality, she was trying not to let her nerves get the best of her. She could pass this up, but it was too perfect and to be honest, if she kept letting her nerves get the best of her, by the end of the day, she would have gotten nowhere.

So she smiled a little and said. "Yes. I suppose Tsubame's an old soul despite her youthful appearance. But you make it sound like such a bad thing."

"What?"

It came out her mouth before she could rethink it. "I'm not such horrible company that it would be such a bad thing to be married to me?"

She blushed as soon as she said it and even more when Dominik looked at her with a penetrating stare, obviously trying to read her intentions for saying it. But at the end of the day, he was the one who brought it up. It couldn't have been too forward, could it have? She resisted the urge to get up and run out the room. Maybe this was too much for her. Had she just ruined everything?

To her relief, Dominik laughed saying, "I suppose it wouldn't be so bad if I had to base it after knowing you for all of a few hours. Not to mention you're not a bad sight for sore eyes."

While she was relieved he had taken it in good humor, it did nothing to help the blush on her face and so she carefully turned her gaze back to the book she was looking at, hoping he would ignore her embarrassment. He did, but whatever wall had been up between them before them had now been successfully broken. The tense awkwardness that was usually present between two people who had just met was gone, replaced with something Sakura felt more comfortable with and apparently Dominik did too for he seemed to let his guard down just a little.

"To think you're actually shy. I would have never known," he teased.

Sakura had the decency to blush. It was true he probably wouldn't have known considering she had shamelessly dragged him here and then coaxed him into becoming her personal translator while she entertained herself. Tsubame would have laughed, but it only served to embarrass Sakura more. What she would give to be able to get up and just leave. Tsubame could get her little token herself. But she stayed put slowly looking up to meet Dominik's gaze. Was it just her or was he a little close to her?

She couldn't do this. Not yet.

"I'm bored again," she said suddenly turning away from him and closing the book. "Where are all those antiques your grandmother is rumored to have?"

Dominik looked at her for a moment, still uncomfortably close to her until he finally said "It's all over the place really. It would take a while to see it all."

"Good thing I have nothing else important to do," Sakura said standing up to go put the book back on the shelf, using the time it took to collect herself a little. The shelf was out of Dominik's sight and so when she put it back she leaned on the shelf and sighed a little trying to calm her racing heart. She had never been so nervous, not even her first time with Naoki was this nerve wrecking.

"Are you okay?"

Sakura almost jumped in surprise when she heard Dominik's voice behind her and flushed as she said, "I'm fine. It's just… Nothing. Don't worry about it."

"Are you sure? You seem… nervous."

Sakura shook her head. "I'm fine. We can go now," she said and like earlier, she linked her hand in his and guided him out the library.

Unlike before when she grabbed his hand, he didn't try to pull it away, but he did end up guiding her since she had no idea where they were going. He could have let go of her hand if he wanted, but he didn't. He even initiated grabbing her hand to pull her away when he thought it was time to move on.

As much as it used to anger her when Yue would point it out, Sakura would admit that she was a little naïve and oblivious when it came to matters of the sexual nature concerning herself in relationship to others, perhaps because she was naturally a friendly, touchy person. But when it didn't concern her, she was rather intuitive, easily picking up on the feelings someone might have for someone else. As it was, Sakura couldn't help but be aware of the rising sexual tension between them. How couldn't she be aware when he would grab her hand and pull her away or touch her bare back to keep her going when she stayed in one place too long, things she might have pegged as innocent on any normal occasion? Tsubame was right. It was the little things that added up.

"That's the fourth painting of your grandmother I've seen today," she pointed out.

Dominik sighed. "My grandmother is a little self-centered. She thinks she rules the world and everybody in it."

Sakura giggled. "So what about you? Any self-portraits?"

"I'm not nearly as conceited as my grandmother despite the fact that we're related."

Sakura laughed again glancing out a window and realizing how dark it had gotten. She hadn't noticed. Despite her nervousness, she really had enjoyed herself with him.

"I didn't realize it was so late," she said aloud. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to tie up your entire day."

"It was nothing. I enjoyed your company Miss Kinomoto."

"Sakura… Call me Sakura," she said trying to avoid looking at him, suddenly aware that he was very close to her again. Sakura had to admit she was a little flustered, heart racing in what was anticipation. But she didn't know if it was out of nervousness or something else. She wouldn't have minded if her heart didn't belong to someone else, but her uncertainty on why she was anticipating this only served to make her feel guilty that someone else could ignite the same emotional reactions as her lover could, that her body would betray her in this fashion.

He kissed her first, softly, only a peck in fact and then backed away as though embarrassed.

"Sorry," he said.

"No. It's… It's okay."

That was a lie. It wasn't okay, but this was all part of Tsubame's game, a game Sakura had willingly agreed to play. Of course Dominik didn't know that, so he took it as permission to kiss her again, and again, and once more after that until Sakura finally pulled him all the way to her, pressing herself flush against him as his soft chaste pecks became sensual long kisses with her pressed against the glass of the window she had just looked out of.

Despite her apprehension, she returned his advances, kissing back, trying to convince herself that this wasn't completely wrong. It was lust driven, no string attached. Sure she believed in fate, but love needed time to brew, certainly more than little over a day. After this was done, they would both go their own ways.

They pulled away and Dominik dipped down to kiss her neck. She whimpered a little.

"Wait… Dominik," she said pushing him away.

He lifted his head back up resting his head near her ear. "Is this too fast for you?"

Sakura wanted to say yes. Not only was it too fast, it was wrong, but she didn't let that stop her.

"No. But… We shouldn't do this here."

Realizing she was right, he grabbed her hand, and they went back to where she had first found him, kissing on the way there his hands roaming her bare back as they made their way there. As soon as the door was closed, Dominik kicked off his shoes and dress socks, all the while lifting Sakura's dress and running his hand under it to caress her thighs. She let out a small eep as his hands brushed the outside of her panties, sending a delightful shiver through her body and as his mouth went back to her neck she resisted the urge to close her eyes. She had to remain aware enough find it, some kind of small token that would have Marie's family crest magically engraved on it. But that was easier said than done, for how could anyone focus when someone was rubbing them between the thighs and kissing their neck. Still, it wasn't Naoki for she would have forgotten all thoughts as soon as his hand made his way to her heat. As it was, as much as she was physically enjoying it, she still felt a little guilty mentally and that was what kept her just enough aware to pay attention.

Their lips met again and Dominik's hand went for the halter tie around her neck to unloosen it. The top of the dress fell to her waist and Dominik push the dress and her panties the rest of the way down her legs. Sakura pulled back from his lips, face flushed, but not just from the activity, but also her shame. It was one thing to bare herself to Naoki. He was her boyfriend. But it was another thing entirely to show herself to someone that wasn't hers. It just felt wrong. She wanted to get this over with and thankfully, the urgency of the lustful atmosphere gave her a reason to rush.

So without anymore further delay, she pressed her lips back to his, hand finding the first button of his shirt at the top of his collar as she hurried to unbutton them. She knew from experience though that it was hard to do that and kiss someone at the same time and she broke the contact as she clumsily fumbled with the buttons to get them apart while Dominik made quick work of his belt, trousers and boxers.

The sight of him erect made Sakura gasp a little and stop right after she had gotten the last button undone and she began to feel the same apprehension she had felt right before Naoki took her for the first time. Just as she started to look up and felt her cheeks begin to heat up again, something on the cuff of Dominik's sleeves caught her eye; a pair of silver and gold cufflinks, so insignificant and simple that Sakura might not have ever seen them if she hadn't looked down to observe Dominik's manhood.

"Something wrong?"

Sakura shook her head pressing her lips back to his to distract him. She had to remove the cufflinks anyway, if she wanted to get the shirt off. She did so, making sure to drop them behind her, where her dress was so that she could hide them on her later. Then she removed the shirt the rest the way and dropped in on the floor, leaving them both fully naked. Sakura then began pushing him back, toward the bed and before he could try to maneuver them so that she would be under him, she shoved him so that he fell on his back on the bed and she was straddling him.

She closed her eyes and then reached down to grab his throbbing member in her hand. He groaned when she grasped it, rubbing it against folds of her heat against it.

"Damn it," he said gripping her hips with his hands. "Sakura."

She almost frowned, but managed not to when he said her name. Sakura didn't like the way he said it. He said it roughly and hard, obviously clouded with lust. It was starting to make her feel guilty again. Time to get this over with, Sakura thought to herself as she guided him into her. She let out a soft moan as he filled her. She leaned forward, bracing her hand on either side of him as she began to rock back and forth, slowly at first as she tried to find the right angle. As guilty as she felt about it, she figured it didn't have to be a completely bad experience. She could get some enjoyment out of it.

She stopped a little when she felt the familiar pleasurable shock send tingles through her body and then just to make sure did so again, causing her to bite back a moan and Dominik to groan under her. Picking up the pace of her rocking, her breasts began to bob up and down, which didn't go out of her partner's notice for she was leaned forward with the directly in his face. He took one into his mouth, beginning to suck on it causing Sakura to cry out loudly at the torturous yet pleasurable tightening it was causing in her core and beginning to spread through to the rest of her body.

"Oh god," Sakura muttered giving up on trying to restrain herself. "It… It feels…"

She trailed off into a deep moan as she felt Dominik's member begin to pulse inside her, the pressure and tightness in her core begin to build to its torturous peak, about to take her over the edge. Dominik's hands began to rock her hips back and forth faster as finally he began to release inside her with a few final thrusts. Those last few thrusts did it for her also and Sakura gasped, entire body shaking with the vibrations of her orgasm. She hummed, closing her eyes and enjoying the high before finally she sighed and opened her eyes to look at Dominik.

She could help feeling a little shy when she saw him staring at her, not because she was embarrassed but because she couldn't believe she had really been able to pull this off. She had really pulled this off… She really hadn't thought she would be able to do it, and if she were honest with herself, she hadn't really put forth too much effort to do anything. Everything just kind of happened and if it weren't for the fact that this was what Tsubame had requested, she would have apologized and ran off after Dominik kissed her the first time. Overanalyzing it was beginning to make her feel bad again as the post-coital haze began to fade and the reality of what she had just done set in. So Dominik wouldn't notice the frown that now graced her features, she fell forward lying on his chest, not saying anything for there was nothing that needed to be said.

Sakura wasn't exactly sure how long she stayed there, but it was only when she felt the deep even breathing of Dominik's chest signaling that he was sleep, that she decided it was time to take her leave. It left room for nothing to be awkward.

Carefully she lifted off of him and rose from the bed, going to where her clothes were piled on the floor, but before she put them on, she lifted up the two cufflinks, tossing them about in her hands and reaching out with her magic just to make sure this was what Tsubame wanted. After feeling a warm, yet cold surge of magic in return she pulled on her panties and then struggled to get the dress back on properly. Tsubame and her elaborate outfits…

Sakura then slipped on her sandals and quietly slipped out the room, hoping she could remember the way back to Tsubame's room.

She did and went inside without knocking, finding the woman still wide awake, despite the late hour.

"You're back earlier than I expected" she pointed out.

She hadn't asked about what happened and Sakura wondered if it had anything to do with the reason Tsubame's eyes were softer and lighter than she had possibly ever seen them. Maybe it was because it was so late. Regardless, Sakura was very sure Tsubame was dying with curiosity to know what happened.

"Here," Sakura said quietly holding out her hand to her.

Tsubame opened her hand and Sakura dropped the cufflinks in the woman's hand.

"So that why he wears these things with everything," Tsubame muttered, obviously referring to something in her own universe. "I told you it wouldn't be that hard. Bet you didn't even have to put forth any effort. And look, the dress is torn."

Sakura looked to wear Tsubame was looking and sure enough near the hip of the dress, a tear was there from where the dress had been pulled down her hips. This only served to make Sakura feel worse than she was and finally, after shoving her guilt aside all day, a sob escaped her one she tried to disguise as a cough, but she doubted she was fooling Tsubame.

Tsubame looked at her, the woman's eyes still soft and light with something Sakura had never seen in them before. It looked like sympathy perhaps.

"Are you alright?"

Sakura didn't answer at first, trying to figure out the best way to play off what she felt. In the end, she was too drained to care and so honestly replied, "I don't know."

* * *

AN: Another update in the chaotic schedule that I call my life! I know people are going to have mixed feelings about this chapter, but it's daring and… well I warned everyone when I first came up with this, that this story is dark and twisted. So tell me what you think, even though you probably may or may not like it.

Hope you enjoyed! And Review Please if you enjoyed the chapter or even if you didn't, for ff. net has made it so easy to simply put your arrow right in that big box that follows and type a quick review. I do appreciate the comments.


End file.
